Roberts Radio Limited is a British

consumer electronics Consumer electronics, also known as home electronics, are electronic devices intended for everyday household use. Consumer electronics include those used for entertainment, Communication, communications, and recreation. Historically, these prod ...

company that produces

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

receivers including

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

and internet radios, as well as related audio equipment. Based in

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, southwest of central London. It grew up around Chertsey Abbey, founded in AD 666 by Earconwald, St Erkenwald, and gained a municipal charter, market charter from Henry I of Engla ...

, the company has been making radios since its foundation in 1932 and claim to be the oldest active radio manufacturer in the UK. Roberts Radio have held a royal warrant since the 1950s.

History

Roberts Radio was founded in 1932 by Harry Roberts (1910-1969) of

Mile End Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road ...

and Leslie Bidmead of Kilburn. They financed the down payment on a small factory in London's

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

by selling Bidmead's motorbike. A few years later they moved across

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to t ...

to no. 41

Rathbone Place Rathbone Place is a street in central London that runs roughly north-west from Oxford Street to Percy Street. it is joined on its eastern side by Percy Mews, Gresse Street, and Evelyn Yard. The street is mainly occupied by retail and office pre ...

. During the Blitz in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, they moved to

East Molesey East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

in Surrey. During this time the majority of production shifted from domestic radios to

morse code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...

tappers. Roberts resumed producing domestic radios after the war and eventually gained a reputation for quality. They received a Royal Warrant to the Queen in 1955 and later another to the Queen Mother and the Prince of Wales in the 1980s. Another warrant was granted via the purchase of

Dynatron Radio Ltd Dynatron Radio Ltd was the trade name used by H.Hacker & Sons for their wireless products. The firm started trading in 1927 and operated independently until being bought by Ekco in 1955. The rights to the Dynatron name are currently held by Robert ...

Bought from Philips, previously owned by Pye and EKCO in 1981. The R66 portable valve radio was launched by Roberts in 1956, followed by their first portable

transistor radio A transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver that uses transistor-based circuitry. Previous portable radios used vacuum tubes, which were bulky, fragile, had a limited lifetime, consumed excessive power and required large heavy batteri ...

the RT1 in 1959. Its box-shaped design with a carry handle became popular among the public and celebrities in the 1960s, shaping the familiar Roberts design. It was designed by Bidmead, apparently inspired by a handbag belonging to his wife Elsie. In 1962, the company had a purpose-built factory constructed in

West Molesey West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, Germanic word pass ...

. Co-founder Harry Roberts died in 1969, succeeded by son Richard who served until his own death in 1991. Roberts R862 radio

The company was struggling in the 1980s with the rise of television and imported Japanese electronics. In 1989, a classic red Roberts radio appeared in a Martini TV advert, which revived interest in the product. A replica of the 1950s radio was created and sold out in two limited runs. Public popularity led to the full reissue of the original design as the Roberts Revival (250 series) in 1993 in original red colour, with various new colours and designs numbering sixteen by the year 2000. The Revival has been Britain's best selling portable radio ever since. Roberts Gemini GD20

Roberts Radio was purchased by privately owned GlenDimplex Group in 1994. The company then moved headquarters and production north to

Mexborough Mexborough is a town in the City of Doncaster, City of Doncaster District, South Yorkshire, England, between Manvers and Denaby Main, on the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don close to where it joins the River Dearne, and the A6023 road. It is co ...

in South Yorkshire joining other GlenDimplex ventures. Roberts introduced their first DAB digital radio in 1999, the Classic 2000, which was released in May 2000. Roberts produced their first

internet radio Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...

, the WM-201, in 2007. Its follow up was the Stream 202, which launched the Stream series of internet radio products from Roberts. The company launched the first

solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

-powered DAB radio in 2008. The company moved to

in Surrey around 2020. Roberts later released the Revival Petite, which became the UK's best-selling radio receiver in 2022. This led to the release of a second generation Roberts Revival Petite 2 in 2024.

Gallery

File:Roberts Elise radio.jpg, Roberts Elise DAB radio File:Roberts Sports DAB 2.jpg, Roberts Sports DAB 2, portable DAB radio (2000s) File:Roberts stream 83i.JPG, Roberts Stream 83i DAB/FM radio File:Roberts Revival RD60 (Cobalt Blue).jpg, Roberts Revival RD60 DAB+/DAB/FM radio in Cobalt Blue colour File:DAB Radios from Roberts.jpg, Digital radios from Roberts on display (2010s) File:DAB radio 02.jpg, Roberts Play 10 portable DAB radio (2010s) File:Roberts Revival Petite DAB radio.jpg, Roberts Revival Petite DAB radio (2020s)

Notes

References

External links

Roberts Radio website
{{British Royal Warrant holders Audio equipment manufacturers of the United Kingdom Companies based in Rotherham Electronics companies established in 1932 1932 establishments in England British royal warrant holders British brands Radio manufacturers