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Memory Lane!

whjohnson
Reflecting on the 43 years I have been working in the industry and all of those once familiar famous brand names, I began to wonder what happened to them - apart from globalization, but where did they end up? Who bought out who? And who just gave up and shut down completely?


Here's a few names to start the ball rolling -

Allen West, makers of contacters, motor starters and switchgear.

Ellison - motor starter, switch gear etc.

MTE LTD, contacters, isolators, switchgear etc


What happened to these companies? Where are they now?

We all know that the likes of Electrium and Schnieder pretty own everything these days - Square D, Telemechanique, Merlin Gerin et al

But whatever happened to those old faithfuls whose kit I installed and worked years ago?
  • 0
    50 odd years ago my dad worked for AEI in Wythenshawe, he never forgave Arnold Weinstock (GEC) for taking them over!
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Wasn't Ellison the chap who developed Tufnol ?


    I think there is still a spectre of the old switchgear company operating


    OMS
  • 0
    My first TPN MCB board installation as an electrical contractor was Federal Electric with those awful Stablok breakers. Those bare busbars nearly had me once or twice over the years that I used them. JSB for emergency lighting and Tann Synchronome for fire alarms. Both solid kit and some still in service. 

    When I moved to another wholesaler I used Crabtree for motor control and their Polestar and Powerstar boards. Again, solid kit. The more recent Crabtree boards are pale in comparison.
  • 0
    Agree. Kit is not as robust as it used to be. I wept when the bean counters value engineered the sheer quality of Memshield 2 stuff down to the rubbish that is now Memshield 3.

    Crabtree CEEFORM dol starters and the old Allen West oil dashpot ones were all the rage when I was a pup in my 20's. No mcb boards, all Bill Red Spot HRC or even earlier 3036 stuff back when I started in 1977..

    Crabtree C50 3871s came after, followed by Federal's stablok with the light grey mcbs. After this came Merlin Gerin. No idea what they have now. I left in 2002 to go on my own.


    I remember AEI and Hawker Siddley motors. B.I.C.C cable - mainly pyro but also much conduit singles.
  • 0

    lyledunn:

    My first TPN MCB board installation as an electrical contractor was Federal Electric with those awful Stablok breakers. Those bare busbars nearly had me once or twice over the years that I used them.




    What became of Federal Electric? There is still a company of that name registered at Companies House and a manufacturer of that name in Turkey.


    I ask 'cos I have their gear at home.

  • 0
    Going back, my dad used to work for British Thompson Houston, until they were taken over by AEI, which of course was absorbed into GEC and demise.
  • 0
    Chilton out of Hungerford made very solid stuff. Its E.L.C.B.s were reliable if clunky.

    https://www.flameport.com/electric_museum/old_elcb/chilton_elcb.cs4


    Z.
  • 0
    M2H Group now owns the Coughtrie brand of Glasgow. Coughtrie's lights were very robust and solid and seemed to last at least 30 years. The old outdoor bulkhead lights had real glass covers that did not fade or become brittle in the sun. Also the corner brackets were very popular too. The old Coughtrie style lights are very collectable now, and some old refurbished originals fetch a good sum on fleabay.


    Z.
  • 0
    Really? I knew Coughtrie had gone, but I didn't know that their outside lights were collectable - I have 3 myself, 2 with the corner brackets and one with just the head. I also know of a couple of others 'which may need replacing with LED floods' all of a sudden!

    Seriously though, I suppose that folk such as TV set designers are always after 'period' gear for their productions.
  • 0
    No, Coughtrie is still going - https://www.coughtrie.com/shop/- I bought a couple of their corner bracket outside lights just a few years ago - and they seem just as robust as the old ones.

     

    The old Coughtrie style lights are very collectable now, and some old refurbished originals fetch a good sum on fleabay.



    Indeed - oddly for a lot more than buying a practically identical brand new one.


      - Andy.

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