HISTORY OF GEC
Click here for a pictorial history of GEC
1886 General Electric Apparatus Company
G. Binswanger and Company, an electrical goods wholesaler
established in London during the 1880s by a German immigrant named
Gustav Binswanger (later Byng), was the building block for GEC.
In 1886 Byng was joined by another German immigrant, Hugo Hirst, (later Lord Hirst) the 'Father of GEC' and the company changed its name to The General Electric Apparatus Company (G. Binswanger). This date is regarded as the real start of GEC.
The following year, the company produced the first electrical catalogue of its kind. In 1888 the firm acquired its first factory in Manchester for the manufacture of telephones, electric bells, ceiling roses and switches.
In 1889 The General Electric Co. Ltd. was formed as a private limited company, also known as G.E.C., with its head office in Queen Victoria Street, London. The company developed the use of china as an insulating material in switches and manufactured light bulbs from 1893. In 1900, GEC was incorporated as a public limited company, The General Electric Company (1900) Ltd. And from 1903 it was styled 'The General Electric Co. Ltd.'
Rapidly growing private and commercial use of electricity, especially in lamps and lighting equipment, ensured buoyant demand and the company expanded both at home and overseas with the establishment of branches in Europe, Japan, Australia, South Africa and India and substantial export trade to South America.
Hugo Hirst had become Managing Director in 1906 and when Gustav Byng died in 1910 he also became Chairman until his death in 1943.
1919 Britain’s First Industrial Research
Laboratories
During World War I the Company was heavily involved in the war
effort with products such as radios, signalling lamps and arc lamp
carbons.
In 1919, GEC established Britain's first separate industrial research laboratories at Wembley and moved its head office to new premises in Kingsway, London two years later. From the 1920s the Company was involved in the creation of the National Grid.
GEC continued to acquire companies and embark on joint ventures, as well as expanding its manufacturing operations overseas and its domestic branch network. The Sterling Telephone Company was one of these.
During World War II, GEC was a major supplier to the military of electrical and engineering products. Significant contributions to the war effort included the development of the cavity magnetron for radar, with advances in communications and the mass production of electric lighting.
1961-67 Acquired RAI & AEI
In 1961, GEC took over Radio and Allied Industries (RAI), and
with it emerged the new power behind GEC, Arnold Weinstock, who took
over as Managing Director in 1963, moving the headquarters of the
electrical giant from Kingsway to Stanhope Gate.
Weinstock embarked on a program that was to rationalise the whole British electrical industry, but began with the rejuvenation of GEC. In a drive for efficiency, Weinstock made cutbacks and mergers, injecting new growth and confidence in GEC - reflected in the profits and financial markets.
In the late 1960s, the electrical industry was revolutionised as GEC acquired Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) in 1967, which encompassed Metropolitan-Vickers , BTH, Edison Swan, Siemens Bros., Hotpoint and W.T. Henley.
1968 Merged with English
Electric
In 1968, GEC merged with English Electric, incorporating Elliott
Bros., The Marconi Company, Ruston and Hornsby, Stephenson, Hawthorn
& Vulcan Foundry, Willans and Robinson and Dick Kerr.
The background was the rationalisation of the UK heavy electrical industry. The desire of the Central Electricity Generating Board, the principle buyer, was to have only two principal manufacturers for turbo-alternators, the main elements in power stations. A merger of English Electric and GEC-AEI would give "The General Electric and English Electric Companies Limited" almost exactly half of the turbo-generator business.
On 6th September the two companies issued a joint statement announcing that ‘a total merger should be effected between them ... under the chairmanship of Lord Nelson with Arnold Weinstock as managing director’.
GEC continued to expand under Sir Arnold Weinstock, with the acquisition of Yarrow Shipbuilders in 1974 and Avery in 1979.
The late 1980s witnessed further mergers within the electrical industry, with the creation of GPT by GEC and Plessey in 1988, and the joint acquisition of Plessey by GEC and Siemens the following year. An equal investment by GEC and Compagnie General D'Electricitie (CGE) formed the power generation and transport arm, GEC ALSTHOM, in 1989.
The movements towards electronics and modern technology, particularly in the defence sector, showed a marked digression from the domestic market for electrical goods. In 1990, GEC acquired parts of Ferranti and in 1995 acquired Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. (VSEL).
In 1996, Lord Weinstock retired to become Chairman Emeritus after 33 years at the helm of GEC, having become the undisputed leader of the British Electrical Industry.
George Simpson, took over as Managing Director of GEC, and with him came a wave of new corporate management. A major reorganisation, aimed at focusing on key business strengths involved the sale of Express Lifts, Satchwell Controls, AB Dick, the Wire and Cables Group, Marconi Instruments and GEC Plessey Semiconductors and the planning of new alliances and acquisitions.
In February 1998, the Company Head Office moved to One Bruton Street, London.
In June 1998, GEC acquired the US defence electronics company TRACOR and it became part of Marconi North America, a Marconi Electronic Systems company.
1999 Acquired RELTEC & FORE
January 1999 saw the announcement of a proposed merger of GEC's
Marconi Electronics Systems business with British Aerospace. Marconi
later disposed of Electronics Systems and sold it to British
Aerospace on 29 November 1999, driving Marconi’s new focus on
communications and IT.
On 1 March 1999 GEC acquired the US telecommunication network products company RELTEC, followed by the announcement of the proposed acquisition of US Internet switching equipment company FORE Systems in June 1999.
The RELTEC acquisition gave GEC, and in turn Marconi products, access to the US market which is where 50 per cent of the telecom’s market is. It also reinforced the position in high growth Transmission and Access segment of Communications equipment market.
The acquisition of FORE not only offered a broader range of technology products and a strong enterprise networking clientele, but also strengthened presence in the United States.
1999 Nov GEC Renamed to Marconi plc
On 30 November 1999, GEC renamed to Marconi plc when Marconi was
listed on the London Stock Exchange.
This was the culmination of the old GEC’s transformation from a holding company of diverse industrial activities to a focused communications and IT company.
In February 2000 Marconi acquired Bosch Public Networks, strengthening Marconi’s wireless access product offering and its network management systems.
Taken from the Marconi history files - please go the the GEC/Marconi web site for more information
In the middle of 2001, Marconi's stock dropped to an all time low.
| BACK | Home page | BT/GPO Telephones | A - Z Index | Glossary of Telecom Terminology | Quick Find | All Telephone Systems |
FM