British Electric Traction Company
 |
|
| Public | |
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Rentokil Initial |
| Founded | 1895 |
| Defunct | 1996 |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
| Products |
Transport services Television services Laundry services |
British Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Rentokil Initial.
The company was founded in 1895 as British Electric Traction Company Ltd, with Sir Charles Rivers Wilson as chairman and Emile Garcke as managing director. It was involved in the electrification of tramways in British towns and cities, and also in Australia and New Zealand, for example in Auckland. From operating trams, BET moved on to manufacturing them with the purchase of Brush Electrical Engineering Company in 1901.
The BET became the largest of the private owners of tramways in the British Isles. During its history, it gained control in England of the Metropolitan Electric and South Metropolitan systems in London, as well as systems in Barnsley, Barrow-in-Furness, Birmingham, Birmingham and Midland, Brighton and Shoreham, Cambridge, Devonport and District, Dewsbury Ossett and Soothill Nether, Dudley and Stourbridge, Gateshead, Gravesend, Great Yarmouth, Hartlepool, Jarrow, Kidderminster and Stourport, Leamington and Warwick, Mexborough and Swinton, Middleton, Oldham Ashton and Hyde, Peterborough, Poole, the Potteries, Rossendale Valley, Sheerness, South Staffordshire, Southport, South Shields, Taunton, Tynemouth, Weston-Super-Mare, Wolverhampton District, Worcester, and Yorkshire (Woollen District).
In Wales
In Scotland
In Northern Ireland
The last BET tram ran on 4 August 1951, when the Gateshead and District Tramways Company replaced its trams with buses.
In 1905 a subsidiary was formed to operate motor buses, which became increasingly important to the group as many municipalities were compulsorily acquiring company-owned tram networks in their areas.
Nationalisation of BET's electricity generation and distribution activities took place in 1947 leaving BET with a portfolio of bus companies, a number of miscellaneous investments, and a cash pile. The company embarked on a programme of acquisitions, with particular emphases on transport, leisure and entertainment, printing and publishing, construction and plant hire, textile maintenance and waste management.
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