The General Electric Company plc or GEC was a major UK company involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications and engineering. The company was renamed to Marconi plc in 1999. A defense contractor (sometimes called a military contractor) is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a defense department of a government. ... The Marconi Corporation plc is a radio, telecommunication, and internet equipment manufacturing company, formerly known as The General Electric Company and Marconi plc Marconi Corporation should not be confused with the Marconi Company founded by Guglielmo Marconi. ...

It is not to be confused with the American conglomerate General Electric (GE). The General Electric Company, or GE, NYSE: GE is a multinational technology and services company. ...

The change to the name Marconi plc occurred on November 30, 1999 after GEC's defence arm Marconi Electronic Systems (MES) was demerged and sold to British Aerospace (BAe) for £7.7 billion to form BAE Systems. Jump to: navigation, search November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 31 days remaining, as the final day of November. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1999 is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), or GEC-Marconi as it was until 1998, was the defence arm of The General Electric Company (GEC). ... British Aerospace (BAe) was a UK aircraft manufacturer, now part of BAE Systems. ... Jump to: navigation, search BAE Systems, plc is the worlds fourth largest defense contractor [2] and a commercial aerospace products manufacturer. ...

History

GEC traces its origins to G.Binswanger and Company, an electrical goods wholesaler established in London during the 1880s by a German immigrant Gustav Binswanger (later Gustav Byng). Regarded as the year GEC was founded, 1886 saw Byng joined by a fellow immigrant, Hugo Hirst, and the company changed its name to The General Electric Apparatus Company (G.Binswanger). Jump to: navigation, search // Events and Trends Technology Development and commercial production of electric lighting Development and commercial production of gasoline-powered automobile by Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach First commercial production and sales of phonographs and phonograph recordings. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1886 is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ...

This small business found early success with its unorthodox method of supplying electrical components over the counter. Hugo Hirst was an entrepreneurial salesmen who foresaw the potential of electricity and was able to direct standardisation of an industry in its infancy. He travelled across Europe with an eye for the latest products and in 1887 the company published the first electrical catalogue of its kind. The following year the company acquired its first factory in Manchester where telephones, electric bells, ceiling roses and switches were manufactured. Jump to: navigation, search 1887 is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search Manchester Town Hall is an example of the Victorian architecture found in Manchester and is the home of Manchester City Council Manchester is a large conurbation in the North West of England and is home to 2. ... Jump to: navigation, search A telephone handset A touch-tone telephone dial Telephone Complex relay used in a telephone switching system. ... An electric bell is a form of mechanical bell that functions by means of an electromagnet. ... Jump to: navigation, search Electrical switches. ...

General Electric Company Ltd

In 1889, the General Electric Company Ltd. was formed as a private limited company. The company was expanding rapidly, opening new branches and factories and trading in 'Everything Electrical', a phrase that was to become synonymous with GEC. In 1893, GEC decided to invest in lamp manufacture. The resulting company, (to become Osram in 1909), was to lead the way in lamp design and the burgeoning demand for electric lighting was to make GEC's fortune. In 1900, GEC was incorporated as a public limited company, The General Electric Company (1900) Ltd, (the '1900' was dropped three years later). In 1902, GEC's first purpose-built factory, the Witton Engineering Works was opened near Birmingham. This was later to become a factory for the manufacture of Automobiles. OSRAM is one of the two largest lighting manufacturers in the world and is part of the Siemens AG. This international company, with its headquarters in Munich (Germany), employs more than 36,000 people throughout the world. ... Witton is an area of Aston, Birmingham, England. ... Jump to: navigation, search The city from above Centenary Square. ... Jump to: navigation, search A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ...

With the death of Gustav Byng in 1910, Hugo Hirst became Chairman as well as Managing Director, a position he had assumed in 1906. Hirst's shrewd investment in lamp manufacture was proving extremely profitable and in 1909 Osram began production of the most successful tungsten filament lamps in the industry. Rapidly growing private and commercial use of electricity ensured buoyant demand and the company expanded both at home and overseas, with the establishment of agencies in Europe, Japan, Australia, South Africa and India and a substantial export trade to South America. World map showing Europe (geographically) When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

World Wars

The outbreak of World War I transformed GEC into a major player in the electrical industry with profits to match. The company was heavily involved in the war effort, with products such as radios, signalling lamps and arc-lamp carbons. Jump to: navigation, search World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... Jump to: navigation, search General Name, Symbol, Number carbon, C, 6 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 14, 2, p Appearance black (graphite) colorless (diamond) Atomic mass 12. ...

Between the wars, GEC expanded to become an international corporation and a national institution. The take-over of Fraser and Chalmers in 1918 took GEC into heavy engineering and consolidated their claim to supply 'Everything Electrical'.

During the 1920s, the company was heavily involved in the creation of the UK national grid. The opening of the new purpose built company headquarters in Kingsway, London in 1921, and the pioneering industrial research laboratories at Wembley in 1923, were symbolic of the continuing expansion of both GEC and the electrical industry. Jump to: navigation, search The National Grid is the high-voltage electric power transmission network in Great Britain, interconnecting power stations and major substations and ensuring that electricity generated anywhere in Great Britain can be used to satisfy demand elsewhere. ... Wembley is a place in the London Borough of Brent. ...

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 at the University of Birmingham, advances in communications technology and the ongoing mass production of lamps and lighting equipment. Jump to: navigation, search World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that... A cavity magnetron is a high-powered vacuum tube that generates coherent microwaves. ... This long range radar antenna (approximately 40m (130ft) in diameter) rotates on a track to observe activities near the horizon. ... The University of Birmingham is the oldest of three universities in the English city of Birmingham. ...

The post-war years witnessed a slow down in GEC's expansion. Following the death of Hugo Hirst in 1943, his son-in-law, Leslie Gamage, along with Harry Railing took over as joint Managing Directors. Despite the demand for electrical consumer goods and large investments in heavy engineering and nuclear power, profits began to fall for the first time in the face of increasing competition and internal disorganisation.

Expansion

In 1961, GEC took over Radio and Allied Industries, and with it emerged the new power behind GEC, Arnold Weinstock, who became Managing Director in 1963, moving the headquarters of the electrical giant from Kingsway to a modern building at 1 Stanhope Gate.

Weinstock embarked on a program which was to rationalise the whole of the UK electrical industry, but began with the interior rejuvenation of GEC. In a drive for efficiency, Weinstock made both cut-backs and implemented mergers injecting new growth into the company. GEC returned to profit and the financial markets' confidence was restored.

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. Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) was a British engineering company formed in 1959 by the merger of the British Thomson-Houston Company (BTH) and Metropolitan Vickers. ... Metropolitan-Vickers, or Metrovick, was a British heavy industrial firm of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

In 1968, GEC merged with English Electric, incorporating Elliott Bros., the Marconi Company, Ruston and Hornsby, Stephenson, Hawthorn & Vulcan Foundry, Willans & Robinson and Dick, Kerr. English Electric was a 20th century British industrial manufacturer with a base in electric motors that expanded to include railway locomotives and aviation before eventual inclusion as part of GEC. // History The English Electric Company was formed in 1918 and, during that year and 1919, acquired control of Dick, Kerr... Jump to: navigation, search Elliott Brothers (London) Ltd was an early computer company of the 1950s–60s in the United Kingdom. ... The Marconi Company Ltd. ...

The company continued to expand, with the acquisition of Yarrow shipbuilders in 1974 and Avery in 1979. By this time, GEC had become Britain's largest private employer. In 1984 GEC became one of the first 100 companies to enter the FTSE 100 Index, at which time it was ranked third behind British Petroleum and Shell Transport and Trading with a market capitalisation of £4.915 billion. YSL may mean Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd Yves Saint-Laurent Categories: Disambiguation ... Avery may refer to: Locations: Avery County, North Carolina Avery, California Avery, Texas Avery (crater) The Avery Trace, an important 19th century road between Kingston, Tennessee and present-day Nashville, Tennessee Avery Pub (Cambridge), a Public House in Cambridge, UK. People: Waightstill Avery, North Carolinas first Attorney General and... The Financial Times Stock Exchange Index of 100 Leading Shares, or FTSE 100 Index (pronounced footsie), is a share index of the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. ... Jump to: navigation, search BP (formerly British Petroleum and briefly known as BP Amoco) LSE: BP, NYSE: BP is a petroleum company headquartered in London, and one of the top four oil companies in the world (along with Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, and Total). ... Jump to: navigation, search Royal Dutch Shell plc is a major energy company, one of the top four vertically integrated private sector oil, natural gas, and gasoline companies in the world (along with BP, ExxonMobil, and Total). ...

The late 1980s witnessed some major mergers within the electrical industry, with the creation of GEC-Plessey Telecommunications (GPT) by GEC and Plessey in 1988. The following year GEC and Siemens AG formed a joint company, GEC Siemens plc, to takeover the Plessey Company. As part of the deal GEC took control of Plessey's avionics and naval systems businesses. Marconi Communications is a principal subsidiary of the Marconi Corporation plc and is formerly known as GEC Plessey Telecommuncations (GPT). ... Jump to: navigation, search The Plessey Company plc was a British-based international electronics, defence and telecommunications company. ... Jump to: navigation, search Company headquarters in Munich, Germany Siemens AG NYSE: SI is the worlds largest electronics company. ...

An equal investment by GEC and Compagnie General D'Electricitie (CGE), formed the power generation and transport business, GEC-ALSTHOM in 1989. Jump to: navigation, search Alstom (formerly GEC-Alsthom) (Euronext: ALO) is a large French company whose businesses are power generation and manufacturing trains (e. ...

The movement towards electronics and modern technology, particularly in the defence sector, marked a change in direction away from the domestic electrical goods market. GEC acquired of parts of Ferranti in 1990 and Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. (VSEL) in 1995. VSEL was willing to participate in a merger with a larger company to reduce its exposure to cycles in warship production, particularly following the "Options for Change" defence review following the end of the Cold War. Following GEC's purchase VSEL became Marconi Marine (VSEL). Ferranti or Ferranti International Signal plc by the time of its collapse, was a major UK electrical engineering and equipment firm, known primarily for their defense electronics and power grid systems. ... Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd (VSEL) is based at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. ... Options for Change was a restructuring of the British military in 1993, aimed at cutting defence spending following the end of the Cold War. ... Jump to: navigation, search For the generic term for a high-tension rivalry between countries, see cold war (war). ...

Lord Weinstock retired as Managing Director in 1996.

In June 1998, GEC completed the $1.4bn acquisition of major American defence contractor Tracor, which became part of MES. A defense contractor (sometimes called a military contractor) is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a defense department of a government. ... Tracor was a major North American defence electronics contractor which was acquired by Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), a subsidiary of GEC plc, in 1998. ...

Marconi Electronic Systems sale

Since October 1998, reports had been linking BAe (formerly British Aerospace) with the German aerospace group DASA. GEC was even seen as a potential partner in a three-way merger with BAe and DASA. Jump to: navigation, search BAE Systems, plc is the worlds fourth largest defense contractor [2] and a commercial aerospace products manufacturer. ... Luftwaffe Tornado ECR Deutsche Aerospace AG Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG Founded May 19, 1989 as Deutsche Aerospace AG, bundling space and aeronautic elements of Daimler-Benz (including Dornier Luftfahrt), Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB), MTU München, and Telefunken Systemtechnik (TST) In 1992, the helicopter division was...

In December 1998, reports emerged that GEC was seeking a partner for MES, the value of which was greatly increased by the Tracor acquisition. Prospective partners included Thomson-CSF (by 1998 on the path to privatisation) and various American defence contractors (e.g. Lockheed Martin and TRW). Thomson-CSF was a major electronics and defense contractor. ... Lockheed/BAE/Northrop F-35 Lockheed Trident missile C-130 Hercules; in production since the 1950s, now as the C-130J Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is an aerospace manufacturer formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. ... TRW Incorporated was an American corporation involved in a number of businesses, mostly defense-related, but including automotive supply and credit reporting. ...

GEC had already been active in pursing consolidation in the defence business. In 1997 it made an ultimately unsuccessful proposal to the French government to privatise Thomson-CSF and merge it with MES.

However the prospect of a merger of UK companies soon became the most likely development. In mid January 1999, GEC and BAe confirmed they were holding talks and on January 19 it was announced that BAe was to acquire MES for £7.7bn ($12.75bn).

Transition to Marconi plc

While the deal was yet to be completed, GEC used much of prospective proceeds of the MES sale to acquire companies during 1999. This was part of a major realigment of the firm to become a radio, telecommunications, and internet equipment manufacturing company. GEC purchased Reltec for £1.3bn in March and FORE Systems for £2.8bn in April. FORE Systems was a leader in internet switching equipment based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ...

BAe completed its purchase of MES on November 30, 1999 to form BAE Systems. Jump to: navigation, search November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 31 days remaining, as the final day of November. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1999 is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Jump to: navigation, search BAE Systems, plc is the worlds fourth largest defense contractor [2] and a commercial aerospace products manufacturer. ...

GEC announced that it was to be renamed as Marconi plc. The Marconi Corporation plc is a radio, telecommunication, and internet equipment manufacturing company, formerly known as The General Electric Company and Marconi plc Marconi Corporation should not be confused with the Marconi Company founded by Guglielmo Marconi. ...

Timeline

• 1886 - Founded as The General Electric Apparatus Company.
• 1889 - Renamed The General Electric Co. Ltd.
• 1967 - Acquires Associated Electrical Industries.
• 1968 - The General Electric Company plc merges with English Electric.
• 1984 - Enters the newly formed FTSE 100 index as the country's third largest listed company.
• 1985 - Acquires Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd (YSL) from British Shipbuilders
• 1988 - GEC and Plessey form GEC-Plessey Telecommunications.
• 1989 - GEC and Siemens AG takeover Plessey with GEC acquiring Plessey's avionics and naval systems units.
• 1989 - Power engineering interests were separated off into the joint venture GEC Alsthom, which in 1998 became independent as Alstom.
• 1990 - Acquires defence electronics business of Ferranti.
• 1995 - Acquires Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd.
• 1997/1998 - GEC restructures its operations, focusing on three core businesses
  • Marconi Electronic Systems (formerly GEC-Marconi)
  • Marconi Communications (Telecommunications)
  • GEC Industrial Electronics
• 1998 - GEC merges its radar and avionics business with and Alenia Difesa to form Alenia Marconi Systems.
• 1998 - Acquires Tracor
• 1999 - Acquires Kvaerner's Govan shipyard.
• 1999 - Acquires US Telecom network products manufacturer RELTEC, and Internet switching gear maker FORE Systems.
• 1999 - GEC demerges MES and merges it with BAe to form BAE Systems
• 1999 - GEC renames itself Marconi plc

Jump to: navigation, search 1886 is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1889 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) was a British engineering company formed in 1959 by the merger of the British Thomson-Houston Company (BTH) and Metropolitan Vickers. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... English Electric was a 20th century British industrial manufacturer with a base in electric motors that expanded to include railway locomotives and aviation before eventual inclusion as part of GEC. // History The English Electric Company was formed in 1918 and, during that year and 1919, acquired control of Dick, Kerr... Jump to: navigation, search 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Financial Times Stock Exchange Index of 100 Leading Shares, or FTSE 100 Index (pronounced footsie), is a share index of the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited (YSL) was a major British shipyard, now part of BAE Systems Marine which also includes the nearby Govan shipyard and the former VSEL yard in Barrow. ... British Shipbuilders was a public corporation that owned and managed the UK shipbuilding industry from 1977 to 1986. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Plessey Company plc was a British-based international electronics, defence and telecommunications company. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search Company headquarters in Munich, Germany Siemens AG NYSE: SI is the worlds largest electronics company. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search Alstom (formerly GEC-Alsthom) (Euronext: ALO) is a large French company whose businesses are power generation and manufacturing trains (e. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ferranti or Ferranti International Signal plc by the time of its collapse, was a major UK electrical engineering and equipment firm, known primarily for their defense electronics and power grid systems. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd (VSEL), based at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), or GEC-Marconi as it was until 1998, was the defence arm of The General Electric Company (GEC). ... The General Electric Company plc (GEC) is a British company that was renamed Marconi plc on November 30, 1999 after its defence unit Marconi Electronic Systems was divested and sold to British Aerospace. ... Marconi Communications is a principal subsidiary of the Marconi Corporation plc and is formerly known as GEC Plessey Telecommuncations (GPT). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Alenia Aeronautica Italian aeronautic company Alenia Difesa Italian defense products company Alenia Spazio Italian aerospace company [now called Alcatel Alenia Space] Alenia Marconi Systems or AMS Anglo-Italian electronic company Categories: Disambiguation ... Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS) is a major European defence electronics company and is a equal shares joint venture between BAE SYSTEMS and Finmeccanica. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Tracor was a major North American defence electronics contractor which was acquired by Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), a subsidiary of GEC plc, in 1998. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1999 is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Kvaerner is a Norway-based engineering and construction services company. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1999 is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... FORE Systems was a leader in internet switching equipment based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1999 is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The Marconi Corporation plc is a radio, telecommunication, and internet equipment manufacturing company, formerly known as The General Electric Company and Marconi plc Marconi Corporation should not be confused with the Marconi Company founded by Guglielmo Marconi. ...

See also

• British Thomson-Houston
• Metropolitan Vickers