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General Electric Company · UK
The General Electric Company, 1 abbreviated GEC, was a British
industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics,
(tele)communications and engineering, established in 1886. At one point it
was Britains largest employer with more than 250,000 people on its payroll
in the 1980s, and an annual profit of more than 1 Billion GBP in the 1990s [1].
The company has its roots in The General Electric Apparatus Company that
had been founded in the 1880s [1], and steadily grew during the next 100
years, by expanding its businesses and by a plethora of acquisitions.
From the late 1990s onwards, the company was gradually dismantled.
The defence arm – Marconic Electronics Systems –
was sold to British Aerospace (BAe) and became known as BAE Systems,
whilst the rest continued as Marconi Communications.
Following the acquisition of several US telecom manufacturers and the
losses from the bursting dot-com bubble in 2001, Marconi plc
was restructured and became Marconi Corporation plc. In 2005,
Ericsson acquired the bulk of the company,
whilst the remainder was renamed Telent [1].
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GEC products on this website
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- 1914
The General Electric Co.
67 Queen Victoria Street
EC London (UK)
- 1937
The General Electric Co.
Magnet House
Kingsway, London WC2 (UK)
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188x Established as General Electric Apparatus Co. 1886 Name changed to General Electric Company 1887 First catalogue published 1888 Manchester Works factory opened in Salford (UK) 1888 Manufacturing of telephones, bells and switches 1889 General Electric Co. Ltd. (GEC) established as plc 1892 GEC established Robertson Electric Lamps 1895 Works at Chapel Street (Manchester, UK) 1896 Established works in Birmingham 1900 Company Incorporated (Inc.) 1906 Hugo Hirst managing director 1914 Pirelli-General formed (50% partnership with Pirelli) 1917 Osram-Robertson Lamp Works acquired 1918 Osram acquired 1919 Industrial research laboratires established at Wembley 1919 Marconi-Osram Valve Co. formet (in partnership with Marconi) 1921 Head office moved to Kingsway (London, UK) 1921 Oriental Tube Co. acquired 1922 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) formed (with 5 others) 1923 Signalling department merged with Siemens Brothers 1936 First demonstration of a television receiver WWII Development of cavity magnetron for radar 1946 Glass Bulbs Ltd. formed together with BTH 1953 Manufacturing of TV sets 1954 Start of 1301 computer development (with BTM) 1955 Research in nuclear power 1956 Shares in M-O Valve company purchased from EMI 1961 Acquisition of Radio and Allied Industries (RAI) 1961 GEC Telecommunication and GEC Electronics split as subsidaries 1962 Pirelli-General shares sold to Pirelli 1962 Associated Semicondusctor Manufacturers formed (with Mullard) 1963 Arnold Weinstock managing director 1967 Acquisition of Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) 1968 GEC merged with English Electric Company 1968 Major reorganisations (that lasted 5 years) 1968 GEC-Marconi Electronics Ltd. formed 1968 GEC-Elliot Automation Ltd. formed 1969 12,000 employees made redundant 1969 Marconi-Elliot Computer Systems formed 1974 Yarrow Shipbuilders acquired 1979 Acquisition of A.B. Dick Company of Chicago (USA) 1979 Acquisition of W. and T. Avery 1981 Acquisition of several American companies 1985 Hostile takeover bid for Plessey (anulled by MMC) 1987 Acquisition of Lear Astronics (USA) 1988 50/50 joint venture GEC-Plessey Telecommunications (GPT) 1988 Reorganisation 1988 GEC Siemens plc formed (joint venture with Siemens AG) 1989 Plessey acquired by GEC Siemens 1989 50/50 joint venture GEC Alsthom, with CGE (France) 1989 New division: General Domestic Appliances 1990 Acquisition of parts of Ferranti 1990 GEC Plessey Semiconductors established 1995 Acquisition of Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering (VSEL) 1998 Marconi Electronic Systems Ltd. formed 1998 Acquisition of American defence contractor Tracor 1998 Acquisition of remaining shares of GEC-Plessey Telecommunications (GPT) 1998 GPT merged with Marconi Communications 1999 Defence business demerged as Marconi Electronic Systems (MES) 1999 MES merged with British Aerospace (BAe) 1999 GEC renamed Marconi plc. 2001 Losses from bursting dot-com bubble 2005 Most of Marconi Corporation plc sold to Ericsson 2006 Remainder of Marconi plc renamed Telent plc.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Monday 09 August 2021. Last changed: Monday, 15 January 2024 - 17:03 CET.
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