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The General Electric CompanyThe 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. It is not to be confused with the American conglomerate General Electric (GE). History GEC traces its origins to G.Binswanger and Company, an electrical goods wholesalerestablished in London during the 1880s by a German immigrant Gustav Binswanger (laterByng). Regarded as the year GEC was founded, 1886 saw Byng joined by a fellow immigrant, Hugo Hirst, and the company changed itsname to The General Electric Apparatus Company (G.Binswanger) located at 5, Gt. St. Thomas Apostle. This small business found early success with its unorthodox method of supplying electrical components over the counter. Hugo Hirst was an entrepreneurial salesmen whoforesaw the potential of electricity and was able to directstandardisation of an industry in infancy. He travelled across Europe with an eye for the latest products and in 1887 GEC published the first electrical catalogue of its kind. The following year the company acquired its firstfactory in Manchester where telephones, electric bells, ceiling roses and switches were manufactured. In 1889, the General Electric Co. Ltd. was formed as aprivate limited company and moved to larger premises at 71, Queen Victoria Street. Now known also as G.E.C., 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 firstpurpose-built factory, the Witton Engineering Works was opened near Birmingham. This was later to become a factory for the manufacture of Automobiles. 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, withth establishment of agencies in Europe, Japan, Australia, South Africa and India and a substantial export trade to South America. 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. 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. During World War II, GEC was a major supplier tothe military of electrical and engineering products. Significant contributions to the war effort included the development of the cavity magnetron for radar at Birmingham University, advances in communications technology and the ongoing mass production of lamps and lighting equipment. 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 tofall for the first time in the face of increasing competition and internal disorganisation. 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 at1 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. In 1968, GEC merged with English Electric, incorporating Elliott Bros., The Marconi Company, Ruston and Hornsby, Stephenson, Hawthorn & Vulcan Foundry, Willans & Robinsonand Dick, Kerr. 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. 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, and the acquisition of Plessey by GEC and Siemens the following year. An equal investment by GEC and Compagnie General D'Electricitie (CGE), formed the power generation and transport business,GEC-ALSTHOM in 1989.The movement towards electronics and modern technology, particularly inthe 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. Lord Weinstock retired as Managing Director in 1996. It is still known as Gec Marconi in Bangladesh where it still has an overwhelming presence.Much of their strength in the late seventies and early eighties were pioneered by then Gec Group Finance Director and Chairman A.Muqtadar Khan(Babu)and he was succeded by Saiful who is still the managing director.Mr.Khan was the last chairman of Gec Bangladesh This is a copy of an engraving held in the Museum of London. On the far left is the shop of Charles De Grave, Scalemaker. His business was established here at 59 St. Martin's leGrand, near St. Paul's Cathedral in 1670. This image is the earliest record we have of a business that is now part of GEC. Avery purchased De Grave in 1922 and in turn was acquired by GEC in 1979. Many famous names have contributed to the innovative history of GEC. Here are examples of just a few: Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937), revolutionised communications, when in 1896 he filed the world's first patent for wireless telegraphy using Hertzian waves. In 1897 he formed The Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company and opened the first radio factory in the world in 1899. His company continued to make advances in radio communications, radar and television. In 1946 The Marconi Company was taken over by English Electric who in turn merged with GEC in 1968. The Soho Foundry, which is linked to GEC via Avery,is associated with the names Mathew Boulton and James Watt, inventors of the steam engine and William Murdock, the pioneer of gas lighting. In 1960 English Electric (EE), another major British electrical company, attempted a failed takeover of GEC. The rest of the decade saw the merger first of GEC with the Associated Electrical Industries company in 1967, and then in 1968, in the face of a bid for EE from the Plessey Company, the takeover of English Electric by the new GEC group. The English Electric acquisition brought the Marconi brand to GEC, the Marconi Company had been acquired by English Electric in 1946. In 1988 GEC and Plessey, a British-based international radio, electronics and telecommunications company merged their telecoms businesses to form GEC Plessey-Telecommunications (GPT). The following year GEC and Siemens formed a joint company, GEC Siemens plc, to takeover the Plessy Company. As part of the deal GEC took control of Plessey's avionics and naval systems businesses. In 1995 the company acquired Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering (VSEL). 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). In June 1998 GEC completed the $1.4bn merger of Tracor, Inc with its North American subsidiary. Tracor was a major American defence contractor. Marconi Electronic Systems sale In December 1998 reports began to emerge that GEC was seeking a partner for its defence division, Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), the value of which was greatly increased by the Tracor acquisition. GEC was already active in pursing consolidation in the defence business, it unsuccessfully proposed the privitisation and merger of Thomson-CSF to the French government in 1997. Prospective partners included Thomson-CSF (by 1998 on the road to privitisation) and various American defence contractors (e.g. Lockheed Martin and TRW). Beginning in October 1998 reports linked 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. However soon the prospect of a merger of the British companies became the most likely development. In mid January 1999 GEC and BAe confirmed they were holding talks and on January 19 BAe announced that it was to acquire Marconi Electronic Systems for 7.7bn ($12.75bn). Transition to Marconi plc While the deal was yet to be completed GEC used the much of 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. British Aerospace completed its purchase of MES on November 30, 1999 to form BAE Systems. GEC announced that it was to be renamed Marconi plc. Timeline See also
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