HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) was a British
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
formed in 1928 through the merger of the
British Thomson-Houston Company British Thomson-Houston (BTH) was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England, and founded as a subsidiary of the General Electric Company (GE) of Schenectady, New York, United States. They were kno ...
(BTH) and Metropolitan-Vickers electrical engineering companies. In 1967 AEI was acquired by GEC, to create the UK's largest industrial group. A scandal that followed the acquisition is said to have been instrumental in reforming accounting practices in the UK.


Main subsidiaries

* Metropolitan-Vickers (Metrovick) * British Thomson-Houston (BTH) * Ferguson, Pailin & Co (switchgear) *
Edison Swan The Edison and Swan Electric Light Company Limited was a manufacturer of incandescent lamp bulbs and other electrical goods. It was formed in 1883 with the name Edison & Swan United Electric Light Company with the merger of the Swan United Elect ...
(lamps and radio valves) * AEI Lamp and Lighting * Siemens Brothers & Co (cables, telephone equipment and railway signaling apparatus) *
Hotpoint Hotpoint is a British brand of domestic appliances. Ownership of the brand is split between American company Whirlpool, which has the rights in Europe, and Chinese company Haier, which has the rights in the Americas through its purchase of GE ...
(domestic appliances) * Premier Electric Heaters (incorporated into Hotpoint) *
W.T. Henley William Thomas Henley (1814–1882) was a pioneer in the manufacture of telegraph cables. He was working as a porter in Cheapside in 1830, leaving after disputes with his employer, and working at the St Katherine Docks for six years. During those ...
(cables, insulators and low voltage switchgear) * Newton Victor (X-ray machines) * Sunvic Controls (heating controls) *
Birlec Birlec Ltd. was an English manufacturer of industrial electric furnaces. Birlec was founded in 1927, as the Birmingham Electric Furnace Company, establishing a factory at Tyburn Road, Erdington, Birmingham. In 1954, Birlec's owner the Mond Nickel ...
(industrial electric furnaces) * International Refrigerator Company * Coldrator


Takeover and restructuring

Rivalry existed between Metrovick and BTH brands in the Electrical Engineering field, resulting in internal competition and duplicated management. In 1959 AEI decided to remove those brands and consolidate both as AEI brands, resulting in internal problems and a fall in sales and market value. The abandonment of two well known trademarks and the replacement with the unfamiliar AEI branding lost the company significant work to competitors and resulted in a market weakening of the company. These problems paved the way for a takeover in 1967 with the recently restructured
General Electric Company plc The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering. The company was founded in 1886, was Britain's largest private employer with over 25 ...
(GEC) under
Arnold Weinstock Arnold Weinstock, Baron Weinstock, Kt. OMRI, (29 July 1924 – 23 July 2002) was an English industrialist and businessman known for making General Electric Company one of Britain's most profitable companies. The City criticized Weinstock for ...
. The following year GEC merged with
English Electric N.º UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail) The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during th ...
. GEC took over AEI Cables and Hackbridge Cables Co. in 1967, forming the company AEI Cables Ltd. in 1968. GEC also went through substantial restructuring, including in 1989 forming GEC ALSTHOM and Cegelec Projects. GEC ALSTHOM was created from the GEC's Power and Transport businesses (originally AEI (previously BTH and Metrovick) and English Electric) and the French Compagnie Générale d'Electricité (CGE). The merger was to enable both companies a gain a greater export potential into Europe. The GEC facilities in
Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
were split into GEC Alstom and Cegelec Projects, but in 1998 the two companies were reunited under the Alstom banner. An issue relevant to UK
employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any o ...
and insolvency law arose in 2011, when there was a steep increase in the price of
copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...
; AEI Cables Lid. experienced difficult trading conditions and declared itself
insolvent In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet in ...
. Considering making some staff redundant, they were challenged in the
Employment Tribunal Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, ...
for failing to comply with the requirement for 90 days of consultation under TUPE law (section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992). The
Employment Appeal Tribunal The Employment Appeal Tribunal is a tribunal in England and Wales and Scotland, and is a superior court of record. Its primary role is to hear appeals from Employment Tribunals in England, Scotland and Wales. It also hears appeals from decision ...
ruled that it was not reasonable to expect an insolvent employer to continue trading for 90 days in order to accommodate this legal requirement and in these particular circumstances ruled that 60 days was sufficient.Employment Appeal Tribunal
AEI Cables Ltd. v GMB and others
5 April 2013, accessed 5 February 2021


References


External links


AEI (Rugby) RFC website


a 1962 ''Flight'' advert
Grace's Guide entry for AEI
* {{Authority control Engineering companies of the United Kingdom Electrical engineering companies of the United Kingdom Former defence companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Rugby, Warwickshire