Kelvin and Hughes Ltd. was officially formed in 1946, a year after the end of the Second World War. Henry Hughes & Sons had thrived throughout the inter-war years, expanding into aviation and industrial instrumentation. For years, Henry Hughes & Sons had rivalled with Kelvin Bottomley & Baird, a company that developed and produced similar products.

The head offices of both companies were destroyed in the 1941 Blitz, and subsequent discussions resulted in an agreement to forge a joint venture.
Three years after the two companies merged, the newly formed Kelvin and Hughes Ltd had developed and sold the first Type Approved Maritime Radar System from the UK Ministry of Transport. Their success was to continue, in the following decade Kelvin and Hughes developed increasingly versatile and advanced radar systems, with many ‘Firsts’, including colour and raster scan displays. In 1961, its name was abbreviated to ‘Kelvin Hughes’ and the organisation became the marine division of Smiths Industries Limited which is now a FTSE 100 public listed company named Smiths Group PLC. The Company remained in Smiths’ ownership until in 2007 it was acquired by the UK based private equity group ECI Partners.
 

Kelvin Hughes went on to be a world leader in the development and manufacture of navigation, surveillance and security radar systems. Its products were in use in a wide range of commercial and naval vessels and cruise liners, including the Queen Mary 2 and The UK Navy Royal Fleet Auxiliary Tide Class fast fleet tanker. Its land based radar products are providing surveillance and security to coastlines, ports, borders and critical infrastructure around the world. They were also in service with over 30 diferent navies, including fittings on every United Kingdom Royal Navy warship.
With an armful of accolades – including the first commercial radar in 1948, the first paper chart tracing service in 1971, the first commercially available solid state radar in 2006 and recently, the SharpEye™ SCV: the world’s first small watercraft situational awareness radar - there was no doubt as to Kelvin Hughes’ status as an intellectual and manufacturing powerhouse.