Ferguson Electronics (formerly known as Ferguson Radio Corporation) is an electronics company specializing in small electronics items such as radios and set top boxes.

History

Ferguson is one of the older electronics companies, alongside

Ultra adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park. ' ...

, Dynatron, Pye and Bush in the United Kingdom. It was originally an American–Canadian pre-War company making radio sets for the U.K. market based upon contemporary American models. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, it became Ferguson Radio Corporation, making

radio receivers In radio communications, a radio receiver, also known as a receiver, a wireless, or simply a radio, is an electronic device that receives radio waves and converts the information carried by them to a usable form. It is used with an antenna. The ...

and, later,

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

s. Later still, it became part of the British Radio Corporation. It was taken over by

Thorn Electrical Industries Thorn Electrical Industries Limited was a British electrical engineering company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, but merged with EMI Group to form Thorn EMI in 1979. It was de-merged in 1996 and became a constituent of the FTSE 100 ...

in the late 1950s, but the Ferguson name continued to be used by Thorn, and its successor

Thorn EMI Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Comi ...

. Throughout the company's early history, Ferguson products were very popular across its wide customer base. By the early 1960s its wide product range included a most comprehensive range of audio and TV equipment. Small, battery-operated portable transistor radios to solid oak 6 ft wide hydraulic lid radiograms sporting fully automatic stackable Garrard turntables, multi-channel radios and 2-foot-wide stereo speakers were commonplace in many UK households. Open reel tape recorders and hi-fis followed. Sales held well, with 1980s new introductions including personal cassette players, CD players and video recorders. The 1980s saw much competition from foreign brands such as JVC, Tandy, Hitachi and Sanyo. This took its toll on the Ferguson brand and in 1987 it was sold off to the French electronics company

Thomson Thomson may refer to: Names * Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin * Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson Businesses and organizations * SGS-Thomson Mic ...

. Thomson group itself subsequently withdrew from the competitive European consumer electronics market. In the UK, the Ferguson brand was licensed initially to DSI (Dixons and Currys). DSI ceased using it in 2006 and competitor Comet took up the licence and used it until 2012. Comet used the brand on Freeview and Freesat set-top boxes, DVD players and DAB radios. Although Comet went into administration in November 2012, it had discontinued using the Ferguson brand earlier in the year.

Today

In 2017 Ferguson in the UK was relaunched by Cello Electronics, a British LED TV manufacturer. Cello has licensed the name from Technicolor (Thomson) to be used for a new range of televisions.

UK Trademarks

There are currently several Ferguson trademarks registered for class 09, audio visual equipment, in the UK: EU010787471 Registered by Ferguson Sp. z.o.o. 04/04/2012 but opposed and UKUK00000652009 EU003131927 Registered by Thomson Multimedia now Technicolor, dates back to 26/09/1946.

References

{{Reflist

External links

List of Ferguson televisions

Ferguson UK Website
British brands Electronics companies of the United Kingdom Electronics industry in London Manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Radio manufacturers