Elliott-Automation Limited was initially formed as Elliottronic Limited on 10th October 1950 as a subsidiary of Elliott Brothers (London). In this form it acted as a method of exploiting the newly developed printed circuit technology. This came to an end in 1957 when its name was changed, and it was liquidated as a subsidiary before being reformed as a holding company. Such a change was undertaken in order to facilitate the merger of Elliott Brothers and Associated Automation. In this role the newly renamed Elliott Automation would acquire the shares of these two companies in exchange for its own. This deal was accepted in early October 1957 and created the largest automation and instrument organisation in Europe at the time with both Elliott Brothers and Associated Automation becoming subsidiaries. The board of the new company was headed by Rudolph De Trafford with Loan Bagrit as deputy and managing director. In November 1957 the company expanded with the acquisition of Rotameter Manufacturing, which produced flowmeters and density meters. By the 2nd May 1959 it had also sold Associated Insulation Products to Associated Electrical Industries. In January 1959 Elliott Automation again expanded with the establishment of Elliott Nucleonics as a new subsidiary. This took over responsibility for all activities in the nuclear field, including controls and instruments for reactors and power stations, from Elliott Brothers (London). 1959 also saw the establishment of the Swartwout Company as another part of the group which was formed to produced electronic control systems under a licence from their American producer. February 1960 saw the purchase of Isotope Development (Beenham) Limited from Isotope Developments Limited, which would later change its name to Nucleonic Investments Limited, and the acquisition of Rheostatic, a manufacturer of thermostats and heat control equipment. Further acquisitions would follow with Firth Cleveland Instruments, which became Elliott (Treforest), in 1961; Londex in 1962 and Pevl Controls and Baldwin Instruments in 1963. In 1964 the group also acquired a controlling interest in A.E. Dean & Co. This expansion lead to the creation of numerous divisions and subsidiaries including Mechanical Automation, Elliott Traffic Automation and Elliott Marine Automation. In addition to the expansion being undertaken in the United Kingdom there was also similar activity happening in continental Europe. In 1962 a new company was formed under the name Elliott Automation Continental S.A. under the chairmanship of Sir Leon Bagrit. This acted as the European subsidiary of the wider Elliott Automation Group and would go on to acquire a number of companies in its own right. In April 1967 a further company was formed in Europe, Elliott Automation/Iberica S.A. in order to undertake a contract to install an electronic traffic control system in Madrid. By May 1965 the Elliott Automation group had grown to include 16 companies spread across 26 site both in Britain and abroad. Under the overall management of Elliott Automation Limited, the parent company which was responsible for group wide services, there was Elliott Process Automation Ltd, Elliott Flight Automation Ltd, Elliott Space and Weapon Automation Ltd, Elliott-Automation Radar Systems Ltd, Elliott-Automation Nucleonics Ltd, Elliott Medical Automation Ltd, A.E.E Dean & Co (X-Ray Apparatus) Ltd, Elliott Brothers (London) Ltd, Londex Ltd, E-A Control Valves Ltd, Elliott-Automation Computers Ltd, Elliott Mechanical Automation Ltd, Associated Automation Ltd, Satchwell Controls Ltd, Elliott-Automation (Overseas) Ltd and Elliott-Automation Continental S.A., which was only partly owned by the group. Each of these companies was made of a number of division whilst some also held ownership of part or all of other companies in their own right. By June 1967 the Elliott Automation group was struggling to compete with the larger American computer firms and was still suffering from the impacts of the cancellation of the TSR2 project. As a result, the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation offer a £15 million loan in order to bring about the merger of the company with English Electric, which would create the largest electronics and computer company in Europe, with projected sales of £150 million. This was the first large scale merger facilitated by the IRC and, although there was some concern about it at the time, it was seen as a good deal by the Elliott chairman, Sir Leon Bagrit. The deal itself was accepted in August 1967 and with it Elliott Automation became a subsidiary of the English Electric group, with Bagrit becoming a deputy chairman. This situation would only continue until 1968 when the General Electric Company bought English Electric, which became a GEC subsidiary. Elliott Automation remained part of EE but would change its name on 1st December 1970 to GEC-Elliott Automation, reflecting its new overall owner. In this form it would continue to act as a parent company of some of GEC electronics manufacturing concerns until 1998, although the name would continue to be use for a investment holding company within the group until 2001.