Birlec Ltd. was an English manufacturer of industrial electric furnaces. Birlec was founded in 1927, as the Birmingham Electric Furnace Company, establishing a factory at Tyburn Road,

Erdington Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Warwickshire, it is located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutt ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. In 1954, Birlec's owner the

Mond Nickel Company The Mond Nickel Company Limited was a United Kingdom-based mining company, formed on September 20, 1900, licensed in Canada to carry on business in the province of Ontario, from October 16, 1900. The firm was founded by Ludwig Mond (1839–1909) ...

sold the company to

Associated Electrical Industries Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) was a British holding company formed in 1928 through the merger of British Thomson-Houston (BTH) and Metropolitan-Vickers electrical engineering companies. In 1967 AEI was acquired by GEC, to create the UK ...

.''Times'', 25 September 1954 As part of its expansion plans, AEI relocated Birlec to a new factory at Aldridge,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

during the late 1950s. Some of the largest

electric arc furnace An electric arc furnace (EAF) is a Industrial furnace, furnace that heats material by means of an electric arc. Industrial arc furnaces range in size from small units of approximately one-tonne capacity (used in foundry, foundries for producin ...

s produced by Birlec had a smelting capacity of over 100 tons. Birlec along with the rest of AEI, was taken over by GEC in 1967.

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* http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Birmingham_Electric_Furnaces Engineering companies of England Defunct manufacturing companies of England Companies based in Staffordshire General Electric Company Associated Electrical Industries 1927 establishments in England Manufacturing companies established in 1927 1967 disestablishments in England Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1967 {{England-company-stub