Business History Explorer Supported by the Business Archives Council

Thorn EMI Plc, defence division

Other Business Names:

  • Thorn Electrical Industries Ltd
  • EMI Ltd
  • EMI Plc
  • Thorn Plc
  • EMI Engineering Development Ltd

Locations city-town / local authority / county1974 / region-state / country:

  • Hayes, Greater London, Greater London, Greater London, England

Sectors:

  • Electrical & electronic engineering Electronic equipment & components production
  • Electrical & electronic engineering Radar equipment production

Notes:

Traced origins to Thorn Electrical Industries Ltd and EMI Ltd which merged in 1979 to form Thorn EMI Plc. Their defence interests were then organised into a defence division which was an industry leader. Much was sold off to various owners in 1995 ahead of the separation in 1996 of the business into two listed entities, EMI Plc and Thorn Plc. The defence interests of EMI Ltd were the major contributor to the new division. At the core of these was the development of radar from the mid 1930s at EMI. This grew out of EMI's expertise in acoustics and from 1946 was carried on by EMI Engineering Development Ltd, part of EMI Electronics Group

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