Associated Electrical Industries (AEI)

AEI's Electronic Apparatus Division, Sound Equipment Group, London, produced HiFi equipment.

AEI Lincoln made semi-conductors.

The headquarters of the Electronic Division were located in New Parks, Leicester, in 1959.

From Grace's Guide:

1928 Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) was established, with Howard C. Levis (chairman of BTH) as chairman, as a result of the merger of Metropolitan-Vickers and its rival British Thomson-Houston (BTH), a company of similar size and product lineup. Combined, they would be one of the few companies able to compete with Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co or the English Electric Co on an equal footing.

Also included in the new group were Edison Swan Electric Co. (Ediswan) and Ferguson Pailin of Openshaw, Manchester (a maker of heavy duty electrical switchgear, which BTH had been in the process of buying in 1928). Several of the directors of Metropolitan-Vickers resigned to become directors of the subsidary Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co Ltd. The group had almost 30,000 employees.

The new group was handicapped by poor communication and intense rivalry between Metrovick and BTH, which remained as separately quoted companies and often worked at cross purposes to each other. AEI was never able to exert effective control over its two competing subsidiaries. Ediswan took on valve production whilst Metrovick ceased valve production; BTH took on radio set production and continued with special purpose valves for non-domestic purposes.

In the annual meeting of 1929 it was announced that agreement had been reached with the International General Electric Co (USA) which meant that the whole group would be able to exchange patents and manufacturing information with GE (USA). Also, International General Electric Co. had significant financial interest in AEI, which it held as an investment with no suggestion that it wanted control.

Around 1932 AEI ceased manufacture of radio receivers.

1952 the AEI Group consisted of:

• The British Thomson-Houston Co. Ltd.
• Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co. Ltd.
• The Edison Swan Electric Co. Ltd.
• Ferguson Pailin Ltd.
• The Hotpoint Electric Appliance Co. Ltd.
• International Refrigerator Co. Ltd.
• Newton Victor Ltd.
• Sunvic Controls Ltd.
• Premier Electric Heaters Ltd.

In 1956 a jointly owned company of Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) and the E.K. Cole Co. named Ediswan-Ekco (Aust.) Pty., Limited, with an authorised capital of £A1 million was founded in Australia, followed by Ediswan-Ekco CRT Co. in 1959.