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 (BTH) and

Metropolitan-Vickers Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, it was particularly well known for its industrial el ...

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

(Metrovick) *

British Thomson-Houston 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) *

Ferguson, Pailin & Co Ferguson, Pailin & Co. was an English electrical engineering company based in Higher Openshaw, Manchester. The company was established in 1913, by Samuel Ferguson and George Pailin to manufacture electrical switchgear. The company acquired Mot ...

(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 Elec ...

(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 A ...

(domestic appliances) * Premier Electric Heaters (incorporated into Hotpoint) * W.T. Henley (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 250 ...

(GEC) under Arnold Weinstock. 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 Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

and

Cegelec Cegelec is a French engineering company specialized in electrical infrastructure, HVAC, information technology, nuclear energy development, transport infrastructure, robotics and offering both public and private services. Cegelec was officiall ...

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 othe ...

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 pinkis ...

; 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 i ...

. 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, red ...

for failing to comply with the requirement for 90 days of consultation under

TUPE The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 known colloquially as TUPE and pronounced , are the United Kingdom's implementation of the European Union Transfer of Undertakings Directive. It is an important part of UK la ...

law (section 188 of the

Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992c 52 is a UK Act of Parliament which regulates United Kingdom labour law. The Act applies in full in England and Wales and in Scotland, and partially in Northern Ireland. The law cont ...

). 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 decisions ...

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