The Lamp Room

Random thought, have Crompton ever made anything themselves, or have they only ever put their name on Philips made stuff and latterly Chinese crap?

I cant think of anything they made.

Crompton Parkinson lanterns / electromechanics ?

GLS ?

Yeah I’m pretty sure they did GLS lamps themselves ?

Brook Crompton still make electric motors in the UK AFAIK

Crompton made pretty much all of its own incandescent lamps at Guiseley, as well as making many of the decorstive and reflector types for Philips, Thorn, GEC, Bell etc since the 1920s. They even made their own glass for the lamps. At the beginning they also made their own MA and MB mercury, but could not compete and thereafter sourced all discharge lamps from Philips. Incandescent came to an end when Cooper bought them out and transferred their factory to Tunisia, I think that was in the early 2000s. I visited them in 1998 when it was still going strong with a few hundred employees, and much investment - they had just installed a couple of very high speed GLS lines made by Falma of Switzerland.

Crompton also had a vast 16,000 square metre fixtures factory in Doncaster, arguably with the most advanced fixture manufacturing in the UK during the 1980s. There are pictures of it in the old Crompton catalogues. That was also shut down by Cooper. Only the motors division escaped takeover by the Americans, and may still be running.

In earlier years they also produced cables, batteries, all kinds of switchgear and electrical measurement devices. Plus as a sideline in the lamp plant, they made bullets for the military.

Shame it's become what it has, given what it once was!

Thanks for that information James.
I had a feeling that the old MA and MB mercury lamps were made by Crompton themselves but wasn't 100% sure.

Excellent info James thanks. I'll have to look up that factory in Doncaster seeing as it's on my doorstep