Marconi Company

Lore & Background

The company's roots were in the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company, formed on 20 July 1897 after a British patent for wireless technology was granted on 2 July that year. It opened the world's first radio factory on Hall Street in Chelmsford in 1898. The company underwent several name changes: Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company (1900–1963), Marconi Company Ltd (1963–1987), GEC-Marconi Ltd (1987–1998), Marconi Electronic Systems Ltd (1998–1999), Marconi plc (1999–2003), and Marconi Corporation plc (2003–2006).

In 1909 the company suffered a cash shortage, and wages were paid late. Marconi recruited Godfrey Isaacs as Managing Director, who turned the company around. Isaacs took advantage of the boost to maritime wireless after the sinking of the Titanic and moved the company into radio broadcasting, where it was dominant in forming the British Broadcasting Company. After Isaacs took over, the founder focused on research and development. English Electric acquired the Marconi Company in 1946. In 1967 or 1968, English Electric accepted an offer from the General Electric Company (GEC). The Marconi Company continued as the primary defence subsidiary of GEC, renamed GEC-Marconi in 1987.

Reader's Guide

The Marconi Company was responsible for some of the most important advances in radio and television, including the diode vacuum tube in 1904, transatlantic radio broadcasting in 1907, high frequency tuned broadcasting, short wave beam broadcasting, radar, television, and avionics. It played a key role in the formation of the British Broadcasting Company. Its subsidiary American Marconi was the dominant radio communications provider in the US until the formation of RCA in 1919. In 1999, its defence equipment manufacturing division, Marconi Electronic Systems, merged with British Aerospace to form BAE Systems. In 2006, financial difficulties led to the collapse of the remaining company, with the bulk of the business acquired by the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson. The remainder, with some 2,000 staff, was renamed Telent.

Did You Know?

• The company opened the world's first radio factory in Chelmsford, England, in 1898.
• It formed the Unione Radiofonica Italiana (URI) in 1924, which later became RAI.
• The Marconi Research Laboratories were founded at Great Baddow, Essex, in 1939.
• In 1900 the company's name was changed to Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company.