{{Short description|Former British electrical engineering company}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox company | name = Thorn Electrical Industries | logo = Thornlogo.png | type = Public | caption = | fate = Merged with EMI Group | successor = Thorn EMI | founded = 29 March 1928 (as '''The Electrical Lamp Service Company Ltd''') | defunct = 1998 | hq_location = London, UK | industry = Electrical engineering | key_people = Founders – Sir Jules Thorn and Alfred Deutsch | products = {{hlist|light bulbs|radios|televisions|lamps, luminaires and lighting components (through Thorn Lighting)}} | num_employees = | parent = Terra Firma Capital Partners | subsidiaries = }} thumb|right|Ferguson portable radio cassette recorder also featuring the Thorn logo. Thorn owned Ferguson between the late 1950s and the late 1980s. '''Thorn Electrical Industries Limited''' was a British electrical engineering company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and also a past constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Thorn is named after the Austrian-born businessman Sir Jules Thorn, who migrated to the UK in 1923 and established the ''Electric Lamp Service Company'', trading in electrical appliances, in 1926. Two years later, the business was incorporated and continued to steadily grow. Following the acquisition of the ''Atlas Lamp Works'' company in 1932, the firm started producing light bulbs at a factory in Edmonton. In 1936, Thorn started the domestic distribution of radios on behalf of the Ferguson Radio Corporation, which it ultimately acquired ten years later. It established DER in 1939 to manufacture televisions. Within three years of the Second World War's conclusion, the company had 2,400 employees working across multiple factories, producing lamps, lighting fittings, radios, and televisions amongst other domestic appliances.
Further expansion of Thorn took place during the 1950s, striking deals with both the US-based Bendix Aviation Corporation and the transnational conglomerate EMI Group to produce products on their behalf, as well as the acquisition of Philco's British interests. During 1961, Ultra Electronics's consumer electronics interests were integrated with Thorn. Three years later, Thorn merged its lighting interests with those of Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) to form ''British Lighting Industries''. In 1968, Thorn acquired Radio Rentals in exchange for £180 million, and completed a hostile takeover of the domestic appliance specialist Kenwood Manufacturing. That year, the company operated in excess of fifty factories across the UK as well as eight furth plants overseas.<ref name=GTEdisp/> The American company General Telephone and Electronics (GTE) also held a large interest in the company around this time. During 1969, Thorn merged with EMI Group to form Thorn EMI, after which it operated under this brand for almost 30 years. Thorn was de-merged in 1996 and regained its individual listing for a brief period before the company was acquired by the Japanese investment company Nomura Group only two years later. After being transferred to the buyout specialists Terra Firma Capital Partners, parts of the company were sold off in 2007.
==History== ===Background=== The company can trace its origins back to Jules Thorn and the 1920s. Thorn had migrated to the UK from Austria in 1923 and initially worked as a travelling salesman for Olso<!--sic, not a typo for Oslo-->, an Austrian manufacturer of gas mantles. When Olso became bankrupt in 1926, Thorn decided to stay in England and set up the ''Electric Lamp Service Company'' as dealers in electrical and radio goods, including importing Hungarian lamps.<ref name=odnb>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/39053 |title=Sir Jules Thorn |last=Martland |first=Peter |date=24 May 2008 |publisher=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography}}</ref><ref name=times36/> On 29 March 1928, the ''The Electric Lamp Service Company Ltd'' was incorporated, taking over the undertakings, property and assets of the Electric Lamp Service Company.<ref name = "comp commiss1969"/>
In 1928, the Austrian engineer Alfred Deutsch visited Thorn and was persuaded to stay to help organize the company's production process.<ref>{{cite magazine |url = https://www.deutsches-museum.de/fileadmin/Content/data/Insel/Information/KT/heftarchiv/1998/22-4-19.pdf |title = His Master's Voice |language = de |magazine = Kultur&Technik |date = April 1998 |access-date = 18 April 2014}}</ref> In 1931, Thorn opened his first shop, renting radios in Twickenham.<ref name=76advert/>
In August 1932, Thorn personally acquired a controlling interest in Chorlton Metal Co. Limited, dealers of electric lamps and radio goods, based in Manchester.<ref name=times36/> Prior to 1933, the company had focused on the purchase and sale of electric lamps and radio goods.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=16 December 1936 |page=21 |title=To-day's Capital Issues}}</ref> As a result of Thorn's acquisition of the ''Atlas Lamp Works'' company in 1932, the firm began to manufacture its own light bulbs in Edmonton, north London by the end of 1933. The company grew rapidly to become one of the world's largest producers of lamps, luminaires and lighting components.{{citation needed|date=May 2026}}
In October 1933, Jules Thorn formed Lotus Radio (1933) Limited with Mr L. M. Glancy, a director of Chorlton Metal Co. Limited, acquiring certain assets of the original Lotus Company and to manufacture radio receivers.<ref name=times36/>
===Rebranding and going public=== The company changed its name to ''Thorn Electrical Industries Limited'' on 26 November 1936 and became a public limited company on 28 November 1936. Earlier in the year, Chorlton Metal Co. Limited and Lotus Radio (1933) Limited had become wholly owned subsidiaries. and the group had acquired the freehold property known as Atlas Works, which they previously leased.<ref name=times36>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=16 December 1936 |page=19 |title=Thorn Electrical Industries Limited}}</ref>
Jules Thorn became chairman of Ferguson Radio Corporation in 1936 and Thorn began distributing their entire domestic radio production.<ref name=times48/> On 9 July 1946, Thorn acquired Ferguson in exchange for £150,000.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=23 December 1936 |page=17 |title=Miscellaneous notices}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=28 August 1944 |page=8 |title=Thorn Electrical Industries}}</ref> In 1947, Thorn formed an agreement with Sylvania Electric Products to co-operate on the development and manufacture of fluorescent lamps.<ref name=odnb/><ref name=times48/><ref name=Disp/>
During 1939, Thorn established a subsidiary, DER, to pursue the manufacture of televisions. Prior to 1947, it only operated a single outlet, but had expanded to ten branches by 1954 and would reach 397 branches in 1967.<ref name = "comp commiss1969"/>
By 1948, the company had 2,400 employees and operated factories in Enfield (Ferguson's), Edmonton, Hirwaun and Tottenham; it was also in the process of building another in Merthyr Tydfil. The group was manufacturing Atlas lamps, fluorescent lighting fittings and equipment; Ferguson radio and television receivers; and Mary Ann domestic appliances. At that date, its trading subsidiaries were Ferguson Radio Corporation; Lamp Presscaps (manufacturer of lamp caps); Domestic Electrical Rentals (letting of radio and domestic appliances); and British Electric Domestic Appliances (sale and servicing of radio and domestic appliances) as well as a subsidiary in South Africa.<ref name=times48>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=8 March 1948 |page=9 |title=Thorn Electrical Industries Limited}}</ref> The company bought Tricity Cookers in 1951.{{citation needed|date = May 2026}}
===Further expansion=== In 1957, Thorn entered an agreement with Bendix Aviation Corporation in the United States to produce electrical components for guided missiles and supersonic aircraft in Britain on behalf of Bendix.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times|date=9 July 1957 |page=15 |title=Thorn to make Bendix components}}</ref> The same year, they made arrangements with the transnational conglomerate EMI to produce "His Master's Voice" (HMV) and Marconiphone radio and television receivers. Additionally, Thorn reorganised all of its lighting activities under Atlas Lighting Limited.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=17 September 1957 |page=15 |title=Thorn Electrical Industries}}</ref> In April 1959, they acquired Philco's UK business.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=7 September 1959 |page=18 |title=Thorn Electrical Industries}}</ref>
In 1959, the company secured a stake in the relay operator Multi-Signals Ltd; it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thorn in 1964.<ref name = "comp commiss1969"/>
During 1961, Ultra Electronics's consumer electronics interests were integrated with Thorn, which continued to manufacture products under the Ultra brand up to 1974.<ref name=vintage>[http://www.vintage-technology.info/pages/ultra/ultrahistory.htm "Vintage Technology: Ultra Electric."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327133338/http://www.vintage-technology.info/pages/ultra/ultrahistory.htm |date=27 March 2010 }} ''vintage-technology.info''.</ref><ref name = "ultrapcs hist">{{cite web |url = https://www.ultra-pcs.com/about-us/history/ |title = History |publisher = Ultra PCS |access-date = 31 December 2019}}</ref> These activates were subsequently organised under a subsidiary, the British Radio Corporation Limited.<ref name = "comp commiss1969"/>
In 1964, driven by the need to compete more effectively in world markets, Thorn merged its lighting interests with those of Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) to form British Lighting Industries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Electric lamps: second report on the supply of electric lamps |url=http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc6869/hc00/0004/0004.pdf |publisher= Office of Public Sector Information (HMSO) |access-date=22 February 2012 |author=Monopolies Commission |pages=237–240 |date=2 December 1968}}</ref><ref name=76advert>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=27 August 1976 |page=18 |title=Thorn (advertisement)}}</ref> One year later, Thorn took over Glover and Main, an Edmonton-based gas appliance manufacturer. Thorn manufactured television sets in Australia and in Bradford, UK.<ref name = "comp commiss1969">{{cite web |url = http://www.competition-commission.org.uk//rep_pub/reports/1960_1969/fulltext/047c03.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090903143949/http://www.competition-commission.org.uk//rep_pub/reports/1960_1969/fulltext/047c03.pdf |archive-date=3 September 2009 |publisher = Competition Commission |title = Thorn Electrical Industries Ltd}}</ref>
In June 1967, Moffat's interests in the UK were acquired. In August 1967, Thorn acquired Metal Industries, which had interests in electrical and electronic control and instrumentation, including Avo, Towler and Fawcett.<ref name=76advert/> Certain of Thorn's electrical interests were merged with the UK electronic interests of the Bendix Corporation through a joint company, Thorn Bendix.<ref name=GTEdisp>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=24 September 1968 |page=21 |title=Thorn Electrical Industries Limited}}</ref> In November 1967, Thorn bought out AEI's 35 percent interest in British Lighting Industries. In March 1968, they acquired Keyswitch Relays.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=13 August 1968 |page=5 |title=A year of unprecendented growth}}</ref>
By 1968, the Thorn Group had over fifty major factories in the United Kingdom and eight overseas covering a wide field in the electrical and electronics industries.<ref name=GTEdisp/> At the time, their British Radio Corporation Limited held a leading position in the UK manufacture of television receivers, radio receivers, radio gramophones and tape recorders sold under the brands Ferguson, Ultra, HMV and Marconiphone.<ref name=GTEdisp/> Furthermore, Thorn's British Lighting Industries held the largest share of the UK lighting market in 1968 and was also the largest exporter of lighting equipment from the UK; it sold its products under the brands Mazda, Atlas and Ekco.<ref name=GTEdisp/>
Its domestic appliances division had a large share of the electric and gas cooker market sold under the brand names Tricity, Main and Moffat. It was also a substantial manufacturer of refrigerators, gas fires and small electric appliances. Thorn was also a major manufacturer of industrial catering equipment through its subsidiaries, Benham & Sons and James Scott & Co.<ref name=GTEdisp/> Through a joint venture with AEI (Thorn-AEI Radio Valves and Tubes), they were one of two major manufacturers of valves and tubes in the UK, including colour television tubes. The brand names of the products were Mazda and Brimar.<ref name=GTEdisp/><ref name = "comp commiss1969"/>
===Radio Rentals acquisition=== In 1968, Thorn acquired the British firm Radio Rentals in exchange for £180 million, and incorporated it into the Domestic Electrical Rentals (DER) business, which became the largest television rental group in Great Britain with 2.6 million subscribers and 1,300 stores.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=30 January 1968 |page=1 |title=TV rental chains to merge}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=30 January 1968 |page=15 |first=Philip |last=Jacobson |title=£310 million merger by Thorn and Radio Rentals forms TV giant}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=22 June 1968 |page=11 |title=£13 million rise as TV bid approved}}</ref> The same year, it also acquired Kenwood Manufacturing, a British-based domestic appliance producer, via a hostile takeover.<ref name=GTEdisp/><ref>{{cite web |url = https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/ap14410/kenwood-manufacturing-company-limited |title = Kenwood Manufacturing Company limited |website = collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk |access-date = 16 May 2026}}</ref>
American company General Telephone and Electronics (GTE) built up a large interest in Thorn, with the potential of a merger rumoured. In the 1960s, GTE shared their technical knowledge of colour television tubes from their now subsidiary, Sylvania Electric Products, with Thorn.<ref name=Disp>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=21 September 1968 |page=11 |title=US electrical giant puts £40m Thorn holding on the market |last=Marley |first=Christopher}}</ref>
GTE sold its shares in 1968 following the acquisition of Radio Rentals.<ref name=Disp/> They set up a joint venture in the 1970s to try and break into the UK telephone equipment market. GT&E was later replaced by Ericsson of Sweden who wanted a foothold in the UK equipment market and who eventually bought out Thorn's interest.
The Thorn Group's other notable brands over the years included Rumbelows (electrical goods), Thorn Kidde (fire protection) and TMD<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.tmd.co.uk/about/background.asp |title = Company Background |publisher = TMD Technologies Limited |access-date = 16 June 2015 |quote = TMD can trace its roots back to the early 1940s, when the microwave tube research division of EMI Electronics was established to develop high power klystrons, for use in the first airborne radars being developed during the Second World War. [...] In 1989, the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of THORN EMI Electronics [...] In 1995, THORN EMI sold the company to a "Management Buy Out" team, led by the Managing Director and, as TMD Technologies, it is now a wholly owned, fully independent private UK company. |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150709142036/http://www.tmd.co.uk/about/background.asp |archive-date = 9 July 2015}}</ref> (microwave equipment).
==Merger with EMI== {{mainarticle|Thorn EMI}} Thorn merged with the EMI Group in October 1979, to form Thorn EMI.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3670516/EMI-A-giant-at-war-with-itself.html |title = EMI: a giant at war with itself |publisher = The Telegraph |date = 18 January 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/8883890/From-the-Gramophone-Company-to-Citigroup-a-history-of-EMI.html |title = From the Gramophone Company to Citigroup: a history of EMI |publisher = The Telegraph |first = Matthew |last = Sparkes |date = 11 November 2011}}</ref>
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Thorn EMI sought out a buyer for its electronics wing, but failed to conclude any deal.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.forecastinternational.com/archive/disp_old_pdf.cfm?ARC_ID=401 |title = Thorn EMI Plc - Archived 6/97 |website = forecastinternational.com |date = June 1996 }}</ref> On 16 August 1996, Thorn EMI shareholders voted in favour of de-merging Thorn. Thereafter, the electronics and rentals divisions were divested as Thorn plc.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_/ai_n14062454 |title = Solid vote for Thorn demerger |publisher = The Independent |date = 17 August 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/issue/biztimes19960816-1 |title = Thorn EMI prepares to split into two companies |publisher = The Business Times |date = 16 August 1996 }}</ref>
==Post demerger== In July 1998, it was announced that Future Rentals, a subsidiary of the Japanese investment bank Nomura Group, would acquire Thorn in exchange for £980 million ($1.63 billion).<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.bookrags.com/highbeam/nomura-international-will-buy-thorn-hb/ |title = Normura will buy Thorn plc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605044748/http://www.bookrags.com/highbeam/nomura-international-will-buy-thorn-hb/ |archive-date=5 June 2011 |publisher = The Boston Globe |date = 1 July 1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB899223831352556500 |title = Nomura Agrees to Acquire U.K.'s Thorn for $1.63 Billion |first = Sara |last = Calian |publisher = The Wall Street Journal |date = 1 July 1998}}</ref> Two years later, the company was transferred buyout specialists Terra Firma Capital Partners, which set up the BrightHouse chain. In June 2007, the remainder of the company was sold to a private buyer in June 2007.<ref name = "terrafirma 2008">{{cite web |url = http://www.terrafirma.com/thorn.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080111191229/http://www.terrafirma.com/thorn.html |title = Thorn |website = terrafirma.com |archive-date = 11 January 2008}} </ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.privateequityinternational.com/terra-firma-sells-threshers-after-seven-years/ |title = Terra Firma sells Threshers after seven years |website = privateequityinternational.com |first = Brune |last = Alves |date = 22 June 2007 }}</ref>
Big Brown Box was launched in Australia in 2008 by Thorn, and was later sold to Appliances Online, a subsidiary of Winning Appliances, in 2011.{{citation needed|date = May 2026}} The site was an online retailer of AV equipment, consumer electronics, and appliances.
==References== {{reflist}}
==See also== * Thorn Lighting
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Category:Electronics companies of the United Kingdom Category:Electronics industry in London Category:Manufacturing companies based in London Category:Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Category:1928 establishments in England Category:1998 disestablishments in England Category:British companies established in 1928 Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1928 Category:Electronics companies established in 1928 Category:British companies disestablished in 1998 Category:Radio manufacturers