Ferranti
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| Public | |
| Industry | Electronics & Defence |
| Fate | Bankrupt & broken up |
| Successor | GEC-Marconi, Matra Marconi Space |
| Founded | 1905 (as Ferranti Ltd) |
| Defunct | Bankrupt 1993 (the Belgian subsidiary lives on as Ferranti Computer Systems and is now part of the Nijkerk Holding) |
| Headquarters | Hollinwood, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom |
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Key people
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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 Belgian subsidiary lives on as Ferranti Computer Systems and is now part of the Nijkerk Holding). Known primarily for defence electronics, the company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The firm was known for work in the area of power grid systems and defence electronics. In addition, in 1951 Ferranti began selling the first commercially available computer, the Ferranti Mark 1.
Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti established his first business Ferranti, Thompson and Ince in 1882. The company developed the Ferranti-Thompson Alternator. Ferranti focused on alternating current power distribution early on, and was one of the few UK experts. To avoid confusion, he is often referred to as Dr Ferranti to distinguish him from the Ferranti company itself. In 1885 Dr Ferranti established a new business, with Francis Ince and Charles Sparks as partners, known as S. Z. de Ferranti. According to J F Wilson, 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 proponent of AC Ferranti became an important supplier to many electric utility firms and power-distribution companies for both AC and DC meters. 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. 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. 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. The business was restructured in 1905, Dr Ferranti's shareholding being reduced to less than 10%. 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.
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Wikipedia