Ferranti
GEC-Marconi, Matra Marconi Space | |
Headquarters | Hollinwood, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom |
---|---|
Key people | Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti |
Ferranti or Ferranti International PLC was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The firm was known for work in the area of
History
Beginnings
Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti established his first business Ferranti, Thompson and Ince in 1882.[1] The company developed the Ferranti-Thompson Alternator. Ferranti focused on alternating current power distribution early on, and was one of the few UK experts. In 1885 Dr. Ferranti established a new business, with Francis Ince and Charles Sparks as partners, known as S.Z. de Ferranti.[2] According to J.F. Wilson,[3] Dr. Ferranti's association with the electricity meter persuaded Ince to partner him in this new venture, and meter development was fundamental to the survival and growth of his business for several decades to come.
Despite being a prime exponent of alternating current, Ferranti became an important supplier to many electric utility firms and power-distribution companies for both AC and DC meters.[4] In 1887, the London Electric Supply Corporation (LESCo) hired Dr. Ferranti for the design of their power station at Deptford. He designed the building, the generating plant and the distribution system and on its completion in October 1890, it was the first truly modern power station. It supplied high-voltage AC power at 10,000 volts, which was transformed to a lower voltage for consumer use where required.[1]
Success followed and Ferranti started producing electrical equipment (especially transformers) for sale. Soon the company was looking for considerably more manufacturing space. Land prices in the London area were too high, so the company moved to Hollinwood in Oldham in 1896.[2] In July 1901, Ferranti Limited was formed, specifically to take over the assets of S.Z. de Ferranti Ltd and raise equity, but failed to impress potential new investors as it was still dominated by family ownership. Over-optimistic market projections in the boom of 1896–1903, declining revenues and liquidity problems, forced the company bankers Parrs to send the company into receivership in 1903.[3]
The business was restructured in 1905, Dr. Ferranti's shareholding being reduced to less than 10%.[2] For the next eleven years the company was run by receiver managers and Dr. Ferranti was effectively excluded from commercial financial strategies. He spent much of this period working in partnership with the likes of J.P. Coats of Paisley on cotton spinning machinery and Vickers on re-superheating turbines.[3]
Expansion
Through the early part of the century power was supplied by small companies, typically as an offshoot of plant set up to provide power to local industry. Each plant supplied a different standard, which made the mass production of domestic electrical equipment inefficient. In 1910, Dr. Ferranti made a presidential speech to the IEE addressing this issue, but it would be another sixteen years before the commencement of the National Grid in 1926.[3]
In 1912, in a move driven by A.B. Anderson, the Ferranti Managing Director, Ferranti formed a company in Canada,
By 1974, Ferranti had become an important supplier to the defence industry, but its power transformer division was making losses, creating acute financial problems. This led to the company being bailed out by the government's National Enterprise Board, taking a 65% share of the company in return.[7]
Defence electronics
During World War II, Ferranti became a major supplier of electronics,
From 1949,
In the 1950s, work focused on the development of airborne radar, with the company subsequently supplying radars to most of the UK's fast jet and helicopter fleets.[10] Today the Crewe Toll site (now part of Leonardo S.p.A.) leads the consortium providing the Euroradar CAPTOR radar for the Eurofighter Typhoon.[11]
In the 1960s and 1970s, inertial navigation systems became an important product line for the company with systems designed for fast jet (Harrier, Phantom, Tornado), space and land applications.[12] The electro-mechanical inertial navigation systems were constructed at the Silverknowes site in Edinburgh. In addition to their other military and civil applications, they were used in the ESA Ariane 4 and first Ariane 5 launches. Ferranti also produced the PADS (Position and Azimuth Determining System), an inertial navigation system which could be mounted in a vehicle and was used by the British Army.[13]
With the invention of the laser in the 1960s, the company quickly established itself in the electro-optics arena. From the early 1970s, it was delivering the Laser Rangefinder and Marked Target Seeker (LRMTS) for the Jaguar and Harrier fleets, and later for Tornado.[14] It supplied the world's first man-portable laser rangefinder/designator (Laser Target Marker, or LTM) to the British Army in 1974,[15] and had notable successes in the US market, establishing Ferranti Electro-optics Inc in Huntington Beach, California. Its TIALD Pod (Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator) has been in almost constant combat operation on the Tornado since it was rushed into service during the first Gulf War.[16]
From the 1960s through to the late 1980s, the Bristol Ferranti
The selection of the radar for the project that became the Eurofighter Typhoon became a major international issue in the early 1990s. Britain, Italy, and Spain supported the Ferranti-led
Industrial electronics
The company began marketing optical position measuring equipment for machine tools in 1956.[20] Moire fringes produced by diffraction gratings were the basis for the position measurement. In the late 1980s there were several sections of the company involved in non-military areas. These included microwave communications equipment (Ferranti Communications), and petrol (gas) station pumps (Ferranti Autocourt). Both of these departments were based at Dalkeith, Scotland.
Computers
In the late 1940s Ferranti joined with various university-based research groups to develop computers. Their first effort was the Ferranti Mark 1, completed in 1951,[2] with about nine delivered between 1951 and 1957. The Pegasus introduced in 1956 was their most popular valve (vacuum tube) system,[21] with 38 units sold. Circa 1956, Ivan Idelson, at Ferranti, originated the Cluff–Foster–Idelson coding of characters on 7-track paper tape for a BSI committee.[22] This also inspired the development of ASCII.[21]
In collaboration with the
Work on a completely new design, the
By the early 1960s their mid-size machines were no longer competitive, but efforts to design a replacement were bogged down. Into this void stepped the Canadian division, Ferranti-Packard, who had used several of the ideas under development in England to very quickly produce the Ferranti-Packard 6000.[9] By this time Ferranti's management had tired of the market and were looking for someone to buy the entire division. Eventually it was merged into International Computers and Tabulators (ICT) in 1963, becoming the Large Systems Division of ICL in 1968. After studying several options, ICT selected the FP 6000 as the basis for their ICT 1900 series line which sold into the 1970s.
The deal setting up ICT excluded Ferranti from the commercial sector of computing, but left the industrial field free. Some of the technology of the FP 6000 was later used in its Ferranti Argus range of industrial computers which were developed in its Wythenshawe factory. The first of these, simply Argus, was initially developed for military use.[24]
Meanwhile, in
Semiconductors
Ferranti had been involved in the production of electronic devices, including radio valves, cathode-ray tubes and germanium semiconductors for some time before it became the first European company to produce a silicon diode, in 1955. In 1972 they launched the ZN414, a single-chip AM radio integrated circuit in a 3-pin package.
Ferranti Semiconductor Ltd. went on to produce a range of silicon bipolar devices, including, in 1977, the Ferranti F100-L, an early 16-bit microprocessor with 16-bit addressing.[27] An F100-L was carried into space on the amateur radio satellite UoSAT-1 (OSCAR 9). Ferranti's ZTX series bipolar transistors gave their name to the inheritor of Ferranti Semiconductor's discrete semiconductor business, Zetex Semiconductors plc.[28]
In the early 1980s, Ferranti produced some of the first large uncommitted logic arrays (ULAs), used in home computers such as the Sinclair ZX81, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Acorn Electron and BBC Micro. The microelectronics business was sold to Plessey in 1988.[29]
Acquisition of International Signal and Control
In 1987 Ferranti purchased International Signal and Control (ISC), a United States defence contractor based in Pennsylvania.[30] The company subsequently changed its name to Ferranti International PLC. and restructured the combined business into the following divisions: Ferranti Computer Systems, Ferranti Defence Systems, Ferranti Dynamics, Ferranti Satcomms, Ferranti Telecoms, Ferranti Technologies and International Signal and Control.
Collapse
Unknown to Ferranti, ISC's business primarily consisted of illegal arms sales started at the behest of various US clandestine organizations. On paper the company looked to be extremely profitable on sales of high-priced "above board" items, but these profits were essentially non-existent. With the sale to Ferranti all illegal sales ended immediately, leaving the company with no obvious cash flow.[30]
In 1989 the UK's Serious Fraud Office started criminal investigation regarding alleged massive fraud at ISC. In December 1991 James Guerin, founder of ISC and co-chairman of the merged company, pleaded guilty before the federal court in Philadelphia to fraud committed both in the US and UK. All offences which would have formed part of any UK prosecution were encompassed by the US trial and as such no UK trial proceeded.[30]
The financial and legal difficulties that resulted forced Ferranti into bankruptcy in December 1993.[2]
Operations
The company had factories in Greater Manchester at
(inc. Ferranti International Controls Corporation in Sugar Land, Texas) and several British Commonwealth countries including Canada, Australia and Singapore.Ferranti Australia was based in Revesby, Sydney NSW. There was also a primarily defence-related branch office in South Australia.
Products manufactured by Ferranti Defence Systems included cockpit displays (moving map, head-down, head-up) video cameras and recorders, gunsight cameras, motion detectors, pilot's night vision goggles, integrated helmets, and pilot's stick controls.
On the Tornado aircraft, Ferranti supplied the radar transmitter, inertial navigation system, LRMTS, TIALD pod, mission recording equipment, and cockpit displays.
Current ownership of former Ferranti businesses
- Ferranti Autocourt: Acquired by Wayne Dresser, renamed to Wayne Autocourt, before Autocourt name dropped
- Ferranti Communications: Acquired by Thorn and branded Thorn Communications and Telecontrol Systems (CATS). Later acquired by Tyco International and renamed Tyco Communications. Still[when?] operating under the name TS Technology Services.
- Ferranti Computer Systems:The Belgian subsidiary lives on as Ferranti Computer System and as of 1994 is part of the Nijkerk Holding.Finmeccanica joint venture called Alenia Marconi Systems. This JV has now[when?] been dissolved and the former Ferranti entities are now[when?] part of BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies(Insyte).
- Ferranti Defence Systems: Acquired by GEC-Marconi out of administration and renamed GEC Ferranti, later becoming part of GEC Marconi Avionics (GMAv). This business was acquired in 2000 by BAE Systems (BAE Systems Avionics). Part of this business, including the heritage Ferranti operation, was acquired by Finmeccanica in 2007 and renamed SELEX Galileo (now[when?] Selex ES). At one time there were design offices at Silverknowes, Robertson Avenue, South Gyle 1 and 2, Crewe Toll, Granton. After BAE Systems was formed the remaining factories at South Gyle were sold off and the staff made redundant despite their ground breaking work on the Avionics and Helmet for EFA and Aircraft Mission Computers.
- Ferranti Dynamics: Acquired by GEC-Marconiin 1992
- Ferranti Electronics (Ceramic Seals division): Acquired by Ceramic Seals Limited in 1990.
- Ferranti Instrumentation: Dissolved. Some assets acquired by GEC-Marconiand Ravenfield Designs
- Ferranti Tapchangers Ltd: Independent company, then acquired by UK-based grid control specialists Fundamentals Ltd Ferranti Tapchangers Ltd | Welcome in 2017
- Ferranti Satcomms: Acquired out of administration by Matra Marconi Space in 1994
- Ferranti Technologies: Was bought out by management and continues in Rochdale specialising in avionics, defence electronics, and electronic power systems. It was acquired by Elbit Systems in 2007. After direct action by Palestine Action targeting their Oldham site, it was sold to TT Electronics in January 2022, moving site to Rochdale at end of 2023.[33]
- Ferranti Air Systems: Acquired by Datel then turned into an independent company. Later bought by Ultra Electronics. In 2019 acquired by ADB Safegate.
- GEC-Marconi. Now[when?] owned by Thales and renamed Thales Underwater Systems.
- Ferranti Helicopters: Acquired by British Caledonian Airways in April 1979 to become British Caledonian Helicopters which was in turn acquired by Bristow Helicoptersin 1987
- Ferranti Subsea Systems: Management buyout in the early 1990s, renamed FSSL. Kværner bought more shares in 1994 and then turned to Kværner FSSL. Kværner is now[when?] known as Aker Solutions
- Ferranti Computer Systems Service Department: This was acquired by the third party maintenance company ServiceTec. The regional Service Centres were rebranded as ServiceTec and all of the service engineers and management were taken on. The support of the Argus computers dominated activities although new (non-Argus) business was added to the regional centres. The repair centre at Cairo Mill also became part of the ServiceTec group, ultimately as a separate entity.
- Ferranti Semiconductors: Became Diodes Inc.
- Ferranti Photonics Ltd.: Independent, liquidated after bankruptcy in 2005
Other uses of the Ferranti name
A number of uses of the Ferranti name remain in use. In Edinburgh, the Ferranti Edinburgh Recreation Club (FERC), the Ferranti Mountaineering Club and the Ferranti Ten-pin Bowling League are still[when?] in existence. While these organisations no longer have any formal ties with the companies which subsumed the Ferranti companies which operated in Edinburgh, they still[when?] operate under the old names.
Ferranti Thistle F.C. was formed in 1943 and joined the Scottish Football League in 1974. Due to strict sponsorship rules it changed its name to Meadowbank Thistle F.C., and later to Livingston F.C.
Denis Ferranti Meters Limited is still (2021) owned by a direct descendant of Sebastian de Ferranti but is not directly related to the major Ferranti corporation. The company has over 200 employees that manufacture BT's public phones, oil pumps for large industrial vehicles, electric motors for motorbility solutions, electronics, and small MOD equipment.
References
- ^ a b "SWE Historical Society". Archived from the original on 22 July 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ^ Museum of Science and Industry(Accessed 22-02-2012)
- ^ ISBN 0-7190-2369-6
- ISBN 978-0-521-43098-2.
- ^ ISBN 0-7735-0983-6ISBN 978-0-7735-0983-2
- ^ "Ferranti - Graces Guide". www.gracesguide.co.uk.
- ISBN 1-85936-098-X
- ^ "Electronics Industry (Hansard, 26 June 1951)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 26 June 1951.
- ^ a b John Vardalas, "From DATAR To The FP-6000 Computer Archived 16 January 2006 at the Wayback Machine", IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Vol 16 No 2, 1994
- ^ "Scran Web Site". Scran.
- ^ "Eurofighter Typhoon | the first ASTA Simulator for the Eurofighter Typhoon Operational". Archived from the original on 13 April 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
- ISBN 9780315359819– via dspace.ucalgary.ca.
- ISBN 9780412985119– via Google Books.
- ^ "None".
- ^ "Lasers on beam" (PDF). Flight International. 23 January 1975. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
- ^ "TIALD: The Gulf War GEC Ferranti". Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-55750-262-9.
- ^ Miller, Charles (8 May 1990). "Radar Deal Keeps Britain in Forefront of Airborne Technology". The Press Association Ltd.
- ^ "Court finds GEC 'intervened' on behalf of onetime EFA rival Ferranti". Aerospace Daily. McGraw-Hill Inc. 15 March 1994. p. 398.
- ISBN 9781349010547.
- ^ a b c Sethi, Anand (15 April 2008). "UK electronics - a fallen or sleeping giant?". Electronic Product - Design & Test. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- ^ Savard, John J. G. (2018) [2005]. "Computer Arithmetic". quadibloc. The Early Days of Hexadecimal. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018. (NB. Also has information on the Elliott 503 character set.)
- ^ Napper, Brian (1999). "The Manchester Mark 1, Final Specification -- October 1949". Computer 50: The University of Manchester Celebrates the Birth of the Modern Computer. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
- ^ Wylie, Andrew (2009). "The Ferranti Argus Computers". Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
- ^ A history of autonated AIO's (PDF) (Report). HMS Collingwood's Historic Collection. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- Ferranti Limited, Digital Systems Department. October 1968 [September 1968]. List DSD 68/6. Archived(PDF) from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
- ^ Europe's first home grown microprocessor faces stiff competition, New Scientist 30 September 1976. p. 695.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Zetex Semiconductors Website, Zetex DiodesĀ - Diodes, Inc". Archived from the original on 20 January 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
- ^ 'Plessey to pay £30m for Ferranti's chip business', in Computergram International, 27 November 1987, p. 1
- ^ a b c "The ISC / Ferranti Scandal". Archived from the original on 17 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
- ^ "Nijkerk Holding | Mission & Vision". www.nijkerk.com.
- ^ FASL Archived 4 January 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Elbit Systems Acquires the UK Company Ferranti Technologies for GBP15 Million (US$31 Million)". Aviation Today. 26 July 2007. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
Further reading
- Halton, Maurice J. "The Impact of Conflict and Political Change on Northern Industrial Towns, 1890 to 1990, " MA Dissertation, Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, Manchester Metropolitan University September 2001 (PDF; 326 kB)
- Lavington, Simon (2019), Early Computing in Britain:Ferranti Ltd. and Government Funding, 1948 — 1958, Springer, ISBN 978-3-030-15103-4
External links
- Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester - Timeline of Ferranti's History
- Clippings about Ferranti in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
- Ferranti Scotland Apprentices 1970 Community Group