Thorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics, music, defence and retail. Created in October 1979 when
Thorn Electrical IndustriesThorn Electrical Industries, Limited was an electrical engineering business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange but it merged with EMI Group to form Thorn EMI in 1979...
merged with
EMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, it was listed on the
London Stock ExchangeThe London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
and was once a constituent of the
FTSE 100 IndexThe FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....
but it demerged again in 1996.
History
The Company was formed in October 1979 when
Thorn Electrical IndustriesThorn Electrical Industries, Limited was an electrical engineering business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange but it merged with EMI Group to form Thorn EMI in 1979...
merged with
EMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
.
In May 1984 the Company attempted to merge with
British AerospaceBritish Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...
and in July 1984 it bought the micro-chip manufacturer,
INMOSInmos Limited was a British semiconductor company, founded by Iann Barron, with both the head office and the design office at Aztec West in Bristol, it was incorporated in November 1978.- Products :...
.
Thorn EMI acquired the Mullard Equipment Limited ('MEL') division of
PhilipsKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
in 1990.
On 16 August 1996, Thorn EMI shareholders voted in favour of demerging Thorn from
EMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
again: the Company became
EMI Group plcThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, and the electronics and rentals divisions were divested as Thorn plc.
Operations
Thorn EMI's wide range of business covered five principal areas of activity; television broadcasting, retail/rentals, defence, music and consumer electronics.
Television broadcasting
Thorn EMI was, until a
share flotationAn initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
in 1984, the majority
shareholderA shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
in the
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based
ITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
broadcaster
Thames TelevisionThames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
.
This shareholding was inherited from the 1967 purchase of the
Associated British Picture CorporationAssociated British Picture Corporation , originally British International Pictures , was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970...
by EMI. The deal included their interests in the ITV company
ABC Weekend TelevisionAssociated British Corporation was one of a number of commercial television companies established in the United Kingdom during the 1950s by cinema chain companies in an attempt to safeguard their business by becoming involved with television which was taking away their cinema audiences.In this...
. Through an enforced merger with Rediffusion London, this became
Thames.
In 1985 the company attempted to sell their stake to
Carlton CommunicationsCarlton Communications was a British media company. It was led by Michael Green and listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1983 until 2 February 2004, when it taken over by Granada plc to form ITV plc with Carlton gaining 32% of the new company....
but this was blocked by the governing body of ITV, the
Independent Broadcasting AuthorityThe Independent Broadcasting Authority was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television - and commercial/independent radio broadcasts...
.
Retail and rental
Radio RentalsRadio Rentals was formed in 1932 to rent out radio sets by Percy Perring-Thoms with a turnover in the first year of £780. It later moved into televisions and ultimately video recorders. In 1965 it merged with RentaSet, Joseph Robinson's similarly formed company...
, DER and
RumbelowsRumbelows was an electrical and electronics retailer in the United Kingdom which once rivalled Currys, Dixons and Comet.-History:Fred Dawes established the company as a chain of television and radio rental shops in the 1950s, naming it Fred Dawes...
(which was sold in 1995) Rent-A-Center.
Big Brown BoxBig Brown Box is an online retailer of audio visual products, based in Sydney, Australia. It is an online subsidiary of the Winning family, which own and run Winning Appliances and Appliances Online....
was launched in Australia in 2008 by Thorn and was later sold to
Appliances OnlineAppliances Online is Australia's largest online retailer of white goods and home appliances. The company is a subsidiary of the family-run Winning Appliances brand and has more than 150,000 customers nationwide....
, subsidiary of
Winning AppliancesWinning Appliances is a family owned and run kitchen and laundry specialist, based in Sydney, Australia. The company has been trading since 1906 and has eight showrooms across NSW and Queensland....
in 2011. The site was an online retailer of AV equipment, consumer electronics and appliances.
Defence
From its formation until the mid-1990s Thorn EMI was one of the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's largest defence companies.
The MEL Division, acquired from
PhilipsKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
, was involved in radar, electronic warfare and communications. The MEL communications business was sold to
Thomson-CSFThomson-CSF was a major electronics and defence contractor. In December 2000 it was renamed Thales Group.-History:In 1879 Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston formed the Thomson-Houston Electric Company in the United States....
, now
ThalesThe Thales Group is a French electronics company delivering information systems and services for the aerospace, defense, transportation and security markets...
.
In 1995 the various defence businesses were sold:
- Thorn EMI Electro Optics to Pilkington Optronics
- Thomson Thorn Missile Electronics to Thomson-CSF, now Thales
- Thorn Sensors Group to Racal
Racal Electronics plc was once the third-largest British electronics firm. Listed on the London Stock Exchange and once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, Racal was a diversified company, offering products including: as voice and data recorders; point of sale terminals; laboratory instruments;...
(to become Racal-Thorn Wells, now also part of Thales)
Music
The
EMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
label expanded greatly as part of Thorn EMI. In 1989 Thorn EMI bought a 50% interest in
Chrysalis RecordsChrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis...
, buying the outstanding 50% in 1991. In one of its highest-profile and most expensive acquisitions, Thorn EMI took over
Richard BransonSir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
's
Virgin RecordsVirgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
in 1992.
Computer Software
In the early-to-mid 1980s, Thorn EMI Video Programmes released a number of games for several
home computerHome computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
formats, initially under their own name. They received a lukewarm reception with no major hits (though Snooker and Billiards did reach No. 6 in the UK Atari Charts). These included
Snooker and Billiards,
8-Ball and Tournament Pool,
Darts,
Cribbage and Dominoes (1981)
Gold Rush,
Mutant Herd,
Road Racer and
Volcanic Planet (1983) and
River RescueRiver Rescue was a 1982 game for the Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and the Atari 400 and 800 computers. It was one of a number of game titles which were produced by Thorn EMI Video Programmes during 1982 and 1983.-Description:...
(1982). The label was later renamed
Creative SparksCreative Sparks was a British video games software house in existence during the 1980s. The company started out as Thorn EMI Computer Software, a division of the now-defunct British conglomerate Thorn EMI, and later changed its name....
.
From 1981 till about 1983, Thorn EMI Video Programmes was based in the Thorn EMI head office near
Seven DialsSeven Dials is a small but well-known road junction in the West End of London in Covent Garden where seven streets converge. At the centre of the roughly-circular space is a pillar bearing six sundials, a result of the pillar being commissioned before a late stage alteration of the plans from an...
in central
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. They moved from there to an office in
SohoSoho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
and the name changed to just Thorn EMI Video. TEV later became
Creative SparksCreative Sparks was a British video games software house in existence during the 1980s. The company started out as Thorn EMI Computer Software, a division of the now-defunct British conglomerate Thorn EMI, and later changed its name....
.
Security Systems
Thorn Security installed and serviced all types of electronic security systems from their bases around the UK. The business was absorbed into
ADTADT Security Services, originally American District Telegraph, now also known as simply ADT, is a division of Tyco International and a worldwide supplier of electronic security systems, fire alarm systems, communication systems, and integrated building management systems.-History:There were many...
soon after the EMI demerger and all but a handful of the famous red 'THORN' bellboxes replaced. However, the Fire products especially are still to be found in many premises and until recently spares and complete systems of Thorn heritage continued to be manufactured by ADT.
Business Communications
This division, based in Marlow provided hotels with televisions and related equipment. It also embarked upon a project called Hotel 3000 which provided interactive Set-Top-Boxes for hotel rooms in the late 1980s.
After Thorn's demerger, this division started operating as
Quadriga
Advanced Product Development Centre
This small subsidiary further developed existing products as well as introducing new ones. It was based in St.Lawrence House, Broad Street, Bristol.
Consumer electronics
Ferguson Radio Corporation was owned by Thorn EMI and it made
consumer electronicsConsumer electronics are electronic equipment intended for everyday use, most often in entertainment, communications and office productivity. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver...
like
TV setsTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, radios, etc. TVs were designed and manufactured by Ferguson in the UK until around the early 1990s, although before this, some Thomson-designed models were introduced to the Fergsuon range of TVs for sale in the UK. Some of these Thomson-based models were even manufactured in the UK, although in later years, these models were made outside the UK by Thomson.
By 1992, the Ferguson TV factory in
GosportGosport is a town, district and borough situated on the south coast of England, within the county of Hampshire. It has approximately 80,000 permanent residents with a further 5,000-10,000 during the summer months...
had closed, ending a long period of manufacturing of Ferguson TVs in the UK.
VCRs were sourced until the early 1990s by a joint company called J2T, established by
JVC, usually referred to as JVC, is a Japanese international consumer and professional electronics corporation based in Yokohama, Japan which was founded in 1927...
, Thorn (Ferguson) and
TelefunkenTelefunken is a German radio and television apparatus company, founded in Berlin in 1903, as a joint venture of Siemens & Halske and the Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft...
. From around 1991, VCRs were sourced from Thomson alone.
One important aspect of Thorn EMI’s business was its ability to manufacture, say, one of its Ferguson televisions and then to make it available for rental through its rentals sector or sell it through its retail sector.
Prism Micro ProductsMicronet 800 was an information provider on Prestel, aimed at the 1980s personal computer market. It was an online magazine that gave subscribers computer related news, reviews, general subject articles and downloadable telesoftware....
was owned by Thorn EMI for a short period in the 1980s.
Thorn EMI Video
Thorn EMI Video was established in 1977 and produced three made for video films for the British market:
Cross Country (film) (1983), and
Strange InvadersStrange Invaders is a spoof science-fiction film made in 1983, as a tribute to the 1950s films, but most notably The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It stars Paul Le Mat, Nancy Allen and Diana Scarwid...
(1984) and
Bloodbath at the House of DeathBloodbath at the House of Death is a 1983 comedy horror film starring the British comedian Kenny Everett and featuring Vincent Price. It is an over-the-top spoof loosely inspired by The Amityville Horror and other horror films from the same period....
(1984). Thorn EMI became popular with rental stores. In the U.S., Thorn EMI released films on video from various film companies including
Orion PicturesOrion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...
(
The TerminatorThe Terminator is a 1984 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, co-written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los...
,
First BloodFirst Blood is a 1982 action thriller film directed by Ted Kotcheff. The film stars Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled and misunderstood Vietnam War veteran, with Sheriff Will Teasle as his nemesis and Colonel Samuel Trautman as his former commander and only ally...
) and
New Line CinemaNew Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
(
The Evil DeadThe Evil Dead is a 1981 horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi, starring Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, and Betsy Baker. The film is a story of five college students vacationing in an isolated cabin in a wooded area...
,
XtroXtro is a low-budget British science fiction horror film made in 1982 and directed by Harry Bromley Davenport and co-produced by Bob Shaye.-Plot:...
), and
Universal-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
(
Bad BoysBad Boys may refer to:In film:*Bad Boys , a 1961 film by Susumu Hani*Bad Boys , a 1983 film starring Sean Penn*Bad Boys , a 1995 film starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence...
and
FrancesFrances is a 1982 American drama film starring Jessica Lange, Kim Stanley, and Sam Shepard. When it was released this film was advertised as a purportedly true account of actress Frances Farmer's life but the script was largely fictional and sensationalized...
) in the 1980s.
Thorn EMI joined HBO in 1985 to be named Thorn EMI HBO Video. In 1986, Cannon films bought Thorn EMI's video library, but HBO stayed and became HBO/Cannon Video. Cannon left operations and was eventually just called HBO Video in 1987.
After Demerger
Thorn was purchased by Nomura Principal Finance Group in 1998, which subsequently became
Terra Firma Capital PartnersTerra Firma Capital Partners Ltd is a leading U.K.-based private equity firm, best known for its failed investment in British music company EMI. Financier Guy Hands founded the firm in 2002 through the spin-off of Nomura Principal Finance Group...
. It disposed of Thorn in 2007 to a private buyer.
External links