Lucas Industries plc was a

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

-based British manufacturer of motor industry and

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

industry components. Once prominent, it was listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

and was formerly a constituent of the

FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest market ...

. In August 1996, Lucas merged with the American Varity Corporation to form LucasVarity. After LucasVarity was sold to TRW the Lucas brand name was licensed for its brand equity to Elta Lighting for aftermarket auto parts in the United Kingdom. The Lucas trademark is currently owned by

ZF Friedrichshafen ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group, originally ''Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen'', and commonly abbreviated to ZF (ZF = "Zahnradfabrik" = "Cogwheel Factory"), is a German car parts maker headquartered in Friedrichshafen, in the south- ...

, which retained the Elta arrangement.

History

Foundation

In the 1850s, Joseph Lucas, a jobless father of six, sold paraffin oil from a barrow cart around the streets of

Hockley Hockley is a large village and civil parish in Essex in the East of England located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea, or, more specifically, between Rayleigh and Rochford. It came to prominence during the coming of the railway in the 189 ...

. In 1860, he founded the firm that would become Lucas Industries. His 17-year-old son Harry joined the firm around 1872.History of Lucas

Competition Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...

At first it made general pressed metal merchandise, including plant pot holders, scoops and buckets, and later in 1875 lamps for ships. ''Joseph Lucas & Son'' was based in Little King Street from 1882 and later Great King Street,

1902 to World War I

In 1902, what had by then become Joseph Lucas Ltd, incorporated in 1898, started making automotive electrical components such as

magnetos A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

alternators An alternator is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field with a stationary armature.Gord ...

, windscreen wipers, horns, lighting, wiring and

starter motor A starter (also self-starter, cranking motor, or starter motor) is a device used to rotate (crank) an internal-combustion engine so as to initiate the engine's operation under its own power. Starters can be electric motor, electric, pneumatic ...

s. The company started its main growth in 1914 with a contract to supply

Morris Motors Limited Morris Motors Limited was a British privately owned motor vehicle manufacturing company formed in 1919 to take over the assets of William Morris's WRM Motors Limited and continue production of the same vehicles. By 1926 its production represen ...

with electrical equipment. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Lucas made shells and fuses, as well as electrical equipment for military vehicles. Up until the early 1970s, Lucas was the principal supplier to British manufacturers (such as BSA,

Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada * Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan *Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, a ...

and

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

) of magnetos, dynamos, alternators, switches and other electrical components.

UK General Strike 1926

Thousands of workers belonging to Birmingham's Lucas electronics factory walked out and joined the 1926 United Kingdom general strike. Birmingham communist activist and trade union leader

Jessie Eden Jessie Eden (née Shrimpton; 24 February 1902 – 27 September 1986) was a British trade union leader and communist activist, most famous for leading between 40,000 to 50,000 households during the Birmingham rent-strike of 1939. She was also in ...

, who was a volunteer union steward for the only section of unionised women in the factory, convinced the women to join the strike. The strike was depicted in the British crime drama ''Peaky Blinders''.

1931 Women's strike

again organised another strike of Lucas factory workers in 1931, this time leading 10,000 non-unionised women on a week-long strike, during which she joined the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). Before the strike, Eden had noticed that Lucas factory supervisors had been closely observing her work, and that the supervisors were monitoring her because she was a fast worker and that they planned to use her work speed as a standard for all the other workers in the factory. Eden approached the

Amalgamated Engineering Union The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major United Kingdom, British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992. History ...

; however, they did not allow women to join their membership so she instead approached the Transport & General Workers' Union (T&G). In protest to the factory's plans, Eden organised a mass walkout of 10,000 Lucas factory worker women, who refused to work for a week. The strike was successful and the Lucas Electrics factory management was forced to back down. After the victory, the overjoyed factory workers were so ecstatic that the factory could not function during normal hours and had to be closed early. One of the communist activists who had encouraged Eden was raised up upon the shoulders of factory workers at a dinner hour in celebration. This strike was described by the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

as "unprecedented at the time", and led to the T&G's leader (then

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union in the years 1922–19 ...

) to award Jessie Eden with the union's Gold Medal. Eden's leadership and organisation of the Lucas Electronics factory strike prompted a massive increase in the number of women in the midlands joining British trade unions. Blue plaque Joseph Lucas

Post-World War I expansion

After World War I, the firm expanded rapidly, branching out into products such as

braking system A brake is a machine, mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for Acceleration, slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of ...

s and diesel systems for the automotive industry and hydraulic actuators and electronic engine control systems for the aerospace industry. In 1926 they gained an exclusive contract with

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. Around 1930, Lucas and Smiths established a trading agreement to avoid competition in each other's markets. During the 1920s and 1930s Lucas grew rapidly by taking over a number of their competitors such as Rotax and C.A.Vandervell (CAV). During WW2 Lucas was engaged by

Rover Rover may refer to: People * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Places * Rover, Arkansas, US * Rover, Missouri, US ...

to work on the combustion and fuel systems for the

Whittle Whittle may refer to: Crafts *Whittling, the carving of wood with a knife People * Whittle (name), a surname, and a list of people with the name Places * Whittle, Kentucky * Whittle, Derbyshire, a hamlet near Glossop, Derbyshire, United Kingdom ...

jet engine project making the burners. This came about because of their experience of sheet metal manufacture and CAV for the pumps and injectors. In about 1957 they started a

semiconductor manufacturing Semiconductor device fabrication is the process used to manufacture semiconductor devices, typically integrated circuit (IC) chips such as modern computer processors, microcontrollers, and memory chips such as NAND flash and DRAM that are pres ...

plant to make

rectifier A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which periodically reverses direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction. The reverse operation (converting DC to AC) is performed by an Power ...

s and

transistor upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch e ...

Lucas Plan (1976)

In 1976, the militant workforce within Lucas Aerospace were facing significant layoffs. Under the leadership of Mike Cooley, they developed the Lucas Plan to convert the company from arms to the manufacture of socially useful products, and save jobs. The plan was described at the time by the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' as "one of the most radical alternative plans ever drawn up by workers for their company", and by

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...

as "one of the most remarkable exercises that have ever occurred in British industrial history". The Plan took a year to put together, consisted of six volumes of around 200 pages each, and included designs for 150 proposed items for manufacture, market analysis and proposals for employee training and restructuring the firm's work organisation. The plan was not put into place but it is claimed that the associated

industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike action, strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay a ...

saved some jobs. In addition, the Plan had an impact outside of Lucas Aerospace: according to a 1977 article in ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'', "the philosophical and technical implications of the plan (were) now being discussed on average of twenty-five times a week in international media". Workers in other companies subsequently undertook similar initiatives elsewhere in the UK, continental Europe, Australia and the United States, and the Plan was also supported by and influenced the work of radical scientists such as the

British Society for Social Responsibility in Science The British Society for Social Responsibility in Science (BSSRS) was a radical science movement most active in the 1970s. The main aims of the BSSRS was to raise awareness of the social responsibilities of scientists, the political aspects of sci ...

and community, peace and environmental activists through spreading the idea of encouraging socially useful production. The Plan's proposals also had an influence on the economic development strategies of a number of

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

councils, for example, the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

, where Cooley was appointed Technology Director of the Greater London Enterprise Board after being sacked by Lucas in 1981.

LucasVarity (1996)

In August 1996, Lucas Industries plc merged with the North American

Varity Varity was a Canadian multinational manufacturing company, created in 1986 from the remains of Massey Ferguson Limited (MF) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Varity also owned Perkins Engines, headquartered in Peterborough, England, and Kelsey-Haye ...

Corporation to form LucasVarity plc. Its specific history is covered on the LucasVarity page but for the sake of continuity key aspects of the old Lucas business histories to date, particularly that referring to CAV and Lucas Diesel Systems are still included here.

King of the Road

Harry Lucas designed a hub lamp for use in a high bicycle in 1879 and named the oil lamp "King of the Road". This name would come to be associated with the manufactured products of Lucas Companies, into the present day. However, Lucas did not use the "King of the Road" epithet for every lamp manufactured. They used this name on only their most prestigious and usually highest priced lamps and goods. This naming format would last until the 1920s when the "King of the Road" wording was pressed into the outer edge of the small "lion and torch" button motifs that frequently decorated the tops of both bicycles and motor-car lamps. The public was encouraged by Lucas to refer to every Lucas lamp as a "King of the Road", but strictly speaking, this is quite wrong, as most lamps throughout the 20th century possessed either a name, a number or both. Joseph and Harry Lucas formed a joint-stock corporation with the New Departure Bell Co., of America in 1896, so that Lucas designed bicycle lamps that could be manufactured in America to avoid import duties. The King of the Road name returned in 2013 as Lucas Electrical reintroduced a range of bicycle lighting to the UK. The name was reserved for the Lucas Electrical's premium LED bike lights.

Acquisitions and agreements

Lucas also acquired many of its British competitors:

CAV

CAV Ltd was headquartered in

Acton, London Acton () is a town and area in west London, England, within the London Borough of Ealing. It is west of Charing Cross. At the 2011 census, its four wards, East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 62,480, a ...

making diesel

fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All comp ...

equipment for diesel engine manufacturers worldwide and electrical equipment for commercial and military vehicles. The company was formed by Charles Anthony Vandervell (1870–1955), making accumulators, electric carriage lamps, and switchboards in

Willesden Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has formed ...

. In 1904 the firm, moved to Warple Way, Acton. The firm pioneered the dynamo-charged battery principle and in 1911 it produced the world's first lighting system used on a

double-decker bus A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...

. By 1918 1,000 employees were making vehicle electrics and aircraft magnetos.

Wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...

components were also made from 1923. In 1926 CAV was bought by Lucas. In 1931, CAV in partnership with

Robert Bosch Robert Bosch (23 September 1861 – 12 March 1942) was a German industrialist, engineer and inventor, founder of Robert Bosch GmbH. Biography Bosch was born in Albeck, a village to the northeast of Ulm in southern Germany as the eleventh of ...

, became CAV-Bosch Ltd and began making fuel injection pumps for the diesel industry and later fuel systems for aircraft. Lucas bought Bosch's interest out in 1937 and it became CAV Ltd in 1939. In 1978 the company's name became Lucas CAV. In 1980 the Acton factory employed around 3,000 people making heavy-duty electric equipment for commercial vehicles, by this time high volume diesel fuel injection manufacturing had been relocated to larger modern factories in Kent, Suffolk, Gloucestershire, and many countries throughout the world. Acton continued to make low volume specialist pumps for the military and for Gardner engines. The electrical business was sold to US company

Prestolite Electric Prestolite Electric Incorporated is a global manufacturer and supplier of alternators, starters, electrical equipment, and services to the transportation, industrial, military, marine, agricultural and construction industries. The company sells i ...

in 1998 and remained at Acton until relocating to nearby Greenford in 2005. The diesel fuel injection equipment research, engineering, and manufacturing business known in later years as Lucas Diesel Systems Ltd continue at all of the worldwide sites (with the exception of those in Japan and South Carolina, US, which had closed by this time) and since 2000 has been owned by

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...

, a US-domiciled automotive parts and systems manufacturer. The name has been changed to Delphi, and the business is a major part of the Delphi Powertrain Division. Worldwide dieselfuel injection business sites: England - Gillingham, Kent; Park Royal, London; Stonehouse, Gloucestershire. France - Blois and La Rochelle. Brazil - São Paulo. Mexico - Saltillo. Spain - Sant Cugat, Barcelona. Turkey - Ismir. India - Mannure, Chennai. Korea - Changwon, Busan.

Butlers Limited

Butlers Limited formed as a family business of brassfounders at

Small Heath Small Heath is an area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman times, sits on top of a small hill. ...

, and developed as an important manufacturer and supplier of motor vehicle lamps. In 1948, at the time of its acquisition by Lucas, 60 per cent of Butler's production was represented by its sales of lamps of various types to

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

and

Vauxhall Motors Vauxhall Motors LimitedCompany No. 00135767. Incorporated 12 May 1914, name changed from Vauxhall Motors Limited to General Motors UK Limited on 16 April 2008, reverted to Vauxhall Motors Limited on 18 September 2017. () is a British car compa ...

and to Simms (who resold the lamps to heavy vehicle manufacturers) for use as initial equipment. At this time, Butlers was supplying the whole of Ford's requirements of lamps for initial equipment. Butlers also had a substantial business in the supply to wholesalers of accessory lamps, mainly foglamps and spare tail-lamps of various sizes. Lucas reported that it knew that Ford, Vauxhall and Simms would not like the purchase and that it did not want to upset them or disturb Butlers' wholesale customers or its own wholesalers at home or abroad; nevertheless it decided to accept the offer it had received from Butlers on the general ground that it would be a mistake to refuse the additional capacity, particularly for short orders and obsolete types of lamps. In 1952,the purchase of the share capital of Butlers was effected through nominees, and ownership by Lucas was not made public until 1952 when the company was listed as a subsidiary in Lucas's Annual Report. Also Lucas did not want to bring the spares side of Butlers' business into the Lucas distribution and service network but wished to study it and find out how it worked. Lucas also said that it did not want to add to current press criticism of itself as a monopolistic giant which absorbed competitors.

Girling

The company started as a car brake manufacturer after, in 1925, Albert H. Girling (also co-founder of Franks-Girling Universal Postage) patented a wedge-actuated braking system. In 1929 he sold the patent rights to the New Hudson company. Girling later developed

disc brake A disc brake is a type of brake that uses the calipers to squeeze pairs of pads against a disc or a "rotor" to create friction. This action slows the rotation of a shaft, such as a vehicle axle, either to reduce its rotational speed or to hol ...

s, which were successful on racing cars from the early 1950s to the 1970s. Girling brakes had the quirk of using

natural rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

(later

nitrile In organic chemistry, a nitrile is any organic compound that has a functional group. The prefix ''cyano-'' is used interchangeably with the term ''nitrile'' in industrial literature. Nitriles are found in many useful compounds, including met ...

) seals, which caused difficulties for some American owners of British cars because of incompatibility with US brake fluids. Girling brake manufacture was taken over by Lucas in 1938, but the patent remained held by New Hudson until this in turn was purchased by Lucas in 1943. Lucas then moved its Bendix brake and Luvax shock absorber interests into a new division which became Girling Ltd. Girling products included: *

Brake A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Background ...

systems *

Clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...

systems *

Shock absorber A shock absorber or damper is a mechanical or hydraulic device designed to absorb and damp shock impulses. It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy (typically heat) which is then dissipated. Most sh ...

s *

Hydraulic damper Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...

s - a short-lived Luvax/Girling cooperation that moderated up and down leaf spring movement by turning that motion into a horizontal back and forth motion from the center. The damper hydraulically moderates, equally, both upward and downward motion of the wheels. In this sense, they are quite different from telescopic shock absorbers, which mainly moderate upward movement of the wheel. Such dampers were used for a few years on light-weight British post-war cars, such as MG and Austin.

Rotax

Rotax went through several name changes and manufacturing locations, the last of these being the former premises of the

Edison Phonograph Company Edison Records was one of the early record labels that pioneered sound recording and reproduction, and was an important player in the early recording industry. The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by Edison's found ...

, west

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1913.History of the radio manufacturer Rotax Ltd
Radio Museum Initially a motorcycle accessory business, Rotax began to specialise in aircraft components after the World War I. After an initial proposal for Lucas and Rotax to jointly take over CAV, Lucas decided in 1926 to take over both companies. In 1956 Lucas Rotax opened a new plant in the new town of

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a ne ...

to the north of London. Lucas Rotax was later renamed Lucas Aerospace. By the 1970s the company had 15 plants at various locations.

Aerospace

Originally Called Lucas GTE (Gas Turbine Equipment) Based in Birmingham from its link with the early Rover Jet engine development. Lucas during the late 1960 and early 70s purchased (given help/encouragement by the British government) various aerospace related companies to created a British world class aerospace equipment supplier to complement Rolls-Royce Jet engine manufacturer in a failed attempt to become a major player in the expanding world aviation market. Hobson's, Rotax, the Smiths Industries aerospace related companies were all consumed to create this expanded company. One of the many factories was based in the Park Royal Industrial Estate, London, opposite Lucas Rotax. This facility provided components for

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

, principally for the

Stingray Torpedo Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae (d ...

Project.

Simms

In 1913

Frederick Richard Simms Frederick Richard Simms (12 August 1863 – 22 April 1944)M.I.M.E., M.I.A.E., M.I.Ae.E., M.S.E.; Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Member of the Institution of Automobile Engineers, Member of the Institution of Aeronautica ...

started Simms Motor Units Ltd, which in World War I became the principal supplier of magnetos to the armed forces. In 1920 the company took over a former piano factory in

East Finchley East Finchley is an area in North London, immediately north of Hampstead Heath. Like neighbouring Muswell Hill it straddles the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey, with most of East Finchley falling into the London Borough of Barnet. It ha ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

.The Lucas Factory
John Dearing, 2002 During the 1930s the factory developed a range of Diesel fuel injectors. In the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the company again became the principal supplier of magnetos for aircraft and tanks, also supplying

dynamo file:DynamoElectricMachinesEndViewPartlySection USP284110.png, "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator (electric), commutator. Dynamos were the f ...

s, starter motors, lights, pumps, nozzles,

spark plug A spark plug (sometimes, in British English, a sparking plug, and, colloquially, a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/air ...

s and coils. The East Finchley factory continued to expand after the war, eventually reaching . In 1955, the company acquired seven other British light engineering companies: R.F. Landon Partners, Horstman, Mono-Cam, Hadrill and Horstmann, Industrial Fan and Heater, Clearex Products and Simplus Products. At the end of 1957, the company formally changed its name to Simms Motor and Electronics Corporation Ltd., informally known as the Simms Group. The Simms Group was taken over by Lucas in 1968 and integrated within the CAV division. Manufacturing in East Finchley was steadily run down and the factory closed in 1991 to be redeveloped for housing. It is commemorated by Simms Gardens and Lucas Gardens.

Cross-licensing agreements

In the 1920s Lucas signed a number of cross-licensing agreements with Bosch, Delco, and most of the other automotive electrical equipment manufacturers in Europe and North America. In addition, these agreements included a non-competitive clause agreeing that Lucas would not sell any electrical equipment in their countries and they would not sell electrical equipment in Great Britain. By the mid-1930s Lucas had a virtual monopoly of automotive electrical equipment in Great Britain.

Reception and reputation

With a monopoly in place, Lucas proceeded to supply electrical equipment that was commonly cited as the best reason not to buy a British car. The poor reliability of Lucas auto-electrics earned it the nickname "Prince of Darkness". Incidentally, heavy metal musician

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

, who adopted the nickname as part of his stage image and was also from Birmingham, was a former Lucas Industries employee as was his mother.

UK sites

* Acton (Diesel Systems) * Antrim (Electrical) * Atlantic Works, Grange Rd, Small Heath, Birmingham (Butlers Ltd) * Bradford (Aerospace) * Broadgreen, Liverpool (Aerospace) * Bromborough ( - Industrial Braking) * Burnley (Aerospace (4 sites) and Automotive (3 sites)) * Cannock, Staffordshire (Automotive Lighting) * College Road, Perry Barr (Automotive Electronics) * Cranmore Boulevard (Starter Motor Drives) * Cwmbran (Automotive Brakes) * Dog Kennel Lane, Shirley (Aerospace, Automotive, Consulting and Research) * Fazakerley, Liverpool (Automotive, Diesel Systems) * Fen End, Birmingham (Test Track) * Finchley * Fordhouses, Wolverhampton (Aerospace) * Formans Road, Birmingham (Batteries) * Fradley, Woodend Lane, Staffordshire (Distribution) * Fradley, Gorse Lane, Staffordshire (B90 Remanufacturing, Automotive) * Gillingham, Kent (Diesel Systems) * Great King Street, Birmingham (HQ + Automotive) * Great Hampton Street, Birmingham (Automotive) * Hemel Hempstead (Aerospace) * Honiley (Aerospace) * Huyton, Liverpool (Aerospace) * Kings Road, Tyseley, Birmingham (Automotive Brakes) * Luton (Aerospace) * Marshall Lake Road, Birmingham (Aerospace) * Marston Green, Birmingham (Aerospace) * Mere Green (Automotive Electrical) * Netherton Liverpool (Aerospace) * Newcastle under Lyme (Wiring Harnesses) * Oakenshaw Road, Shirley (Electronics) * Park Royal London (Diesel Systems) * Pontypool (Automotive Brakes) *Read Street, Coventry (Aerospace) * Shaftmoor Lane (Aerospace and Alternators) * Shipley (Aerospace) * Shirley, Solihull (HQ, Aftermarket, Group Research) * Spring Road, Hall Green (Aerospace) * Stonehouse, Gloucestershire (Diesel Systems) * Sudbury (Diesel Systems) * Telford, Halesfield (Automotive Lighting) * Telford, Stafford Park (Flexible Machining Services) * Telford, Stafford Park (Rists, Wiring Harnesses) * Witney Oxfordshire (Instrument clusters) * York Road, Birmingham (Aircraft Engine Management) * Ystradgynlais, South Wales (Wiring Harnesses)

References

Notes

External links

History of Great King Street siteJoseph Lucas final resting place Birmingham's Industrial History Website"Lucas Plan documentary 1978"
1978 Open University programme on the Lucas Plan]
RAC - papers of Frederick Simms

- a 1946 ''Flight'' article on Lucas' work on gas turbine combustors
Lucas Bike Lights TodayLucas Electrical TodayLucas Elektrik A.Ş Turkey
{{Authority control Auto parts suppliers of the United Kingdom Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Former defence companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies based in Birmingham, West Midlands Manufacturing companies established in 1872 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1996 TRW Inc. 1872 establishments in England 1996 disestablishments in England