William Henry Fowler established the Scientific Publishing Company in 1898 on Corporation Street, Manchester. It soon moved to New Bailey Street in Salford and published Fowler's Mechanical Engineer's Pocket Book, the first of a series of annual pocket books for a variety of trades. The company moved to premises in West Timperley, near Altrincham, in the early 1940s and again, in the early 1960s, to the Rochdale Road, and was in business until about 1976. The Scientific Publishing Company also sold circular calculators from 1898. This eventually led to Fowler’s son Harold, who joined the Scientific Publishing Company in 1905, designing and manufacturing circular calculators through the family’s new company Fowler & Co established in 1908. The two companies remained separate until the early 1960s, when Fowler & Co, renamed Fowlers (Calculators) Ltd in 1938, took over as proprietors of the Scientific Publishing Company. The Scientific Publishing Company ceased trading in around 1976.

The Transport Act 1947 nationalised virtually all British transport, including the railways, waterways, and road haulage. These were transferred to a newly-created operating body, the British Transport Commission (BTC). The British Transport Commission began operations on 1st January 1948, under Chairman Sir (later Lord) Cyril Hurcomb. At this time, the British Transport Commission acquired the “Big Four” grouped railways, with virtually all minor railways as well, together with the London Passenger Transport Board. This automatically transferred the assets of the rail companies to BTC, including ships, ports, hotels, and investments in bus, coach, and haulage companies. Two bus companies, Tilling and Scottish Motor Traction, were soon added, as well as long-distance road hauliers. The Transport Act charged the British Transport Commission with the task of charged with “integrating” various forms of transport into single public service. The British Transport Commission did not directly operate transport services. Operations were delegated to five separately appointed executives: Docks and Inland Waterways, Hotels, London Transport, Road Transport, and Railways. The Railways Executive operated under the name British Railways. In 1949, the Road Transport Executive was divided into two separate executives: Road Haulage and Road Passenger. The Commission exercised financial control over these Executives, and managed them through schemes of delegation. The Commission attempted to fulfil its statutory duty to “integrate” public transport by introducing Area Schemes. These were designed to establish regional monopolies for road passenger transport, ports, and harbours. “Integration” was also to be promoted through Charges Schemes, in which the true costs of different modes of transport were to be reflected in the charges. This was designed to attract traffic to the most economic and efficient mode of transport. The structure of Executives was dramatically altered by the Transport Act 1953, which abolished all Executives, with the exception of London Transport. Responsibility for the operation and maintenance of transport systems was delegated to the chief regional managers. The railways were reorganised into a system of area boards for each of its six regions. In September 1953, Sir Brian Robertson became Chairman. Disposal of the haulage fleet also began at this time, but a lack of buyers made this difficult. Rising costs, industrial action and competition from road traffic meant that the British Transport Commission was in financial trouble by 1955. It sought relief from this by publishing The Modernisation and Re-equipment of British Railways, a plan which proposed an investment in the railways of £1,240m over fifteen years. The main features of this plan were the replacement of steam with electric and diesel traction, the electrification of principle routes, and the introduction of new coaching stock. Despite the modernisation plan, the financial position of the British Transport Commission worsened. Two government reviews, in 1956 and 1959, concluded that the Commission was unwieldy and had an insufficiently commercial outlook. Sir Brian Robertson retired in May 1961, and was replaced by Dr Richard Beeching. The BTC was abolished by the Transport Act 1962. It was replaced with five new authorities that were answerable to the Minister of Transport: the British Railways Board, the British Transport Docks Board, the British Waterways Board, the London Transport Board, and the Transport Holding Company. Dr Beeching became chair of the British Railways Board.

Frank Pearn & Co was a pump manufacturing and hydraulic engineering company based in the West Gorton area of Manchester. Brothers Frank and Sinclair Pearn formed the company in 1880 as a partnership with Thomas Addyson. The company had previously existed as a partnership between the two brothers, beginning around 1871, before Arthur Collings Wells joined as a third partner, and the company became known as Frank Pearn, Wells & Co. It is not recorded when Wells joined the partnership, but it is estimated to be around 1878 or 1879. Under its new name, the company continued to manufacture pumps, supplying to waterworks across the United Kingdom. From 1886, Frank Pearn & Co was also the maker of the Clarke's railway signal wire compensator and developed designs for patent universal horizontal surfacing, boring, milling, drilling and tapping machines, which the company licensed to George Richards & Co. The machines were advertised under the name Pearn-Richards. Following Frank Pearn's death in 1914, Sinclair Pearn continued as chairman and managing director until his death in 1933. Sinclair Pearn was succeeded by his son Harold Walker Pearn, who had been joint managing director with his father. Harold Walker Pearn died in 1954, and the company was wound up the following year. Its business was absorbed by Holden & Brooke Limited.

Founded in 1859 as well as supplying engineering equipment and tools for the construction and building trades, the company also manufactured the Kenyons Patent Serilight lens road danger lamps along with other portable warning signs for use at road works. Company was registered on the 25th February 1920 and continued to trade until 1st January 1987 when it eventually became part of CBM Engineering Supplies Ltd.

Imperial Chemical Industries plc came into existence in 1926, following the merger of Nobel Industries Ltd, Brunner, Mond and Company Ltd, the United Alkali Company, and the British Dyestuffs Corporation. The new company was called Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd. Its operations began in 1927, with 33,000 people employed in five main product areas: alkali products, explosives, metals, general chemicals, and dyestuffs. In 1928, its head office opened in Millbank, London. The former British Dyestuffs Corporation works at Blackley, Manchester became the home of ICI's Dyestuffs Division. The main factory for the General Chemicals Division was at Billingham, County Durham. ICI's Research and Development Department developed a number of significant products in the early 20th century, including the acrylic plastic Perspex in 1932, Dulux paint (in partnership with DuPont) in 1932, polyethylene in 1937 and polyethylene terephthalate fibre (known as Terylene and PET) in 1941. The work on polyethylene was led by the Dyestuffs Division at Blackley until a new Plastics Division was established at Welwyn Garden City in 1937. In 1971, the Dyestuffs Division merged with parts of the Nobel Division to become known as the Organics Division. Later mergers with other specialty chemical producers created ICI Colours and Fine Chemicals, which then became ICI Specialties. From 1940, ICI Dyestuffs was involved in the manufacture of Nylon fabrics at its Huddersfield plant, and in 1964 the company established ICI Fibres to manage its successful textile, fibres and Nylon production. The Nylon part of the business was sold to DuPont in 1992. In 1944, as Imperial Chemical (Pharmaceuticals) Ltd, the company was involved in the development of penicillin at its Trafford Park works. Because of its success with pharmaceuticals, the company established ICI Pharmaceuticals in 1957. In 1993, ICI Pharmaceuticals and other bioscience divisions became Zeneca, along with ICI Specialties. Zeneca merged with Astra AB in 1994 to form Astra Zeneca Plc. General Chemical production continued until the acquisition of ICI by Akzo Nobel in 2007.

Originally Bolton was supplied with water from various private estate owners and water companies. As demand grew these small companies could no longer keep up with demand from the growing industries and population. In 1847 Bolton Corporation Waterworks was established with the purchasing of the Bolton Waterworks Co. The corporation waterworks grew as it acquired other private companies and holdings. Eventually in 1963 the Irwell Valley Waterboard and Bacup Corporations Waterworks joined the Bolton undertaking, both having developed in a similar way to Bolton. Eventually with the passing of the Water Act 1973 the undertaking passed in to the control of North West Water authority.

John Holroyd started making machine tools and textile machinery in 1861 from a site located in Hulme, Manchester. After having moved to new premises in Nilnrow, Rochdale in 1896. He went on to develop and designed the thread milling process and as a reult built the first machine of this type in 1897. In 1906 the company began to manufacturer worm gears along with thread grinding machines and milling machines from the premises in Milnrow. The company continues to manufacturer high precision thread and grinding machines and was acquired by Chonqing Machinery and Electrical Co Ltd in June 2010

Company, known to have been active between the 1920s and 1971, involved in the organising and running of commercial events from venues such as the City Hall located on Liverpool Road near to Deansgate. The business had its head office in Manchester's Corn Exchange Buildings. City Hall, originally known as the Lower Hall, became an exhibition centre and was leased to Provincial Exhibitions Ltd from 1921. The company renovated the building, by then known as 'City Exhibition Hall', and it was used to host events until the 1970s. In 1983 the Hall went on to house Manchester's Air and Space Museum.

Professional organisation involved with the organising and running of commercial exhibitions.

Principal activity of the company is high pressure die casting in aluminium and zinc alloys. Previously known as Manchester Diecasting the company was purchased by Peter Wrinch in 1969. From being a small pressing supplier with a small amount of gravity diecasting the company grew and became involved in aluminium pressure diecasting and also diecasting in zinc too.

Ajax Machine Tool was formed by George Carter and Donald Walker in Halifax in 1939. The company was named after the battle cruiser HMS Ajax which had been adopted by the town of Halifax. As the demand for machine tools began to fall off during the 1950s the demand for domestic equipment was increasing. The company developed a new type of washing machine sold under the brand name of ADA washing machines (Ajax Domestic Appliance) Part of the factory which had been producing machine tools was given over to manufacturing washing machines. The success of the company resulted in it being acquired by Philips International in 1958. The company continued to flourish, Philips purchasing of the company allowed it to use the facilities and in turn increase its production of domestic appliances in the UK. The company opened offices in Audenshaw, Manchester and later moved to larger premises in Bredbury, Stockport. The access to the European market allowed Ajax to further expand its sales of their machine tools. In 1979 the CEI Group was formed which consisted of around twenty former Philips Group Companies forming a specialist engineering sector. A little later it was transferred to Graseby Plc where the company became involved in Computer Numerical Control of machine tools which continued to grow, with its access to international markets. The company was returned to private ownership with a management buyout from Graseby in 1992 and in November 2002 under its current owner was relocated to Hampshire.

Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co Ltd was the new trading name given to British Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co on 8 September 1919. The predecessor company had sold its controlling share to the Metropolitan Carriage Wagon Co in 1916 in order to gain membership of the Federation of British Industries. In 1919, Vickers acquired the Metropolitan Carriage Wagon Co, along with its controlling share in British Westinghouse, prompting the change in name to Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co Ltd. The American owned British Westinghouse had established its English operations at Trafford Park in 1899, and Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co Ltd continued on the same site from 8 September 1919. The company was initially known for its electricity generators, later diversifying into the manufacture of steam turbines, switchgear, transformers, electronics and railway traction equipment. The passing of the Electricity (Supply) Act in 1926 provided a boost to the company’s post-war fortunes, with the creation of the National Grid generating demand for the company's products. In 1928, Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co Ltd merged with its rival British Thomson Houston Co Ltd, retaining both names for trading purposes. The following year, on 4 January 1929, Associated Electrical Industries Ltd (AEI) acquired Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co Ltd and the British Thomson Houston Co Ltd. Again, both trading names were retained, and a fierce rivalry was established between the firms which the parent company was unable to control. In 1931, Sir Felix Pole joined Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co Ltd as its new chairman. He oversaw a period of expansion for the company leading into the Second World War. In 1939, seeking a more concise name for the company, the Board of Directors decided upon Metrovicks, which became interchangeable with the official company name of Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co Ltd. Under Sir Felix Pole's chairmanship, Metropolitan-Vickers developed new products for the aviation industry and during the war was one of the sites where Lancaster bombers were built. In 1941, the company developed the first British axial-flow jet engine, the Metrovick F.2. Following the Second World War, the company appointed Oliver Lyttelton as chairman, with the aim of increasing the efficiency and productivity of AEI. Despite his success in achieving this aim, Lyttelton was unable to resolve the commercial rivalry between Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co Ltd and the British Thomson Houston Co Ltd. During his second period as chairman, from 1954-1963, Lyttelton, now Lord Chandos, oversaw the development by Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co Ltd of the first commercial transistor computer, the Metrovick 950. Chandos also resolved to extinguish the competition and internal divisions between Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co Ltd and the British Thomson Houston Co Ltd, and both company names ceased to be used from 1 January 1960, with all subsidiaries going on to trade under the name of Associated Electrical Industries Ltd.

Publishing company specailising the in publishing of technical and scientific books. Published an annual workshop manual for engineers entitled Bentley's Machine Shop Companion.

1863-?, ironmongers and plumbers merchants, Manchester, England. Founded in Salford in 1863 by Laban Baxendale and his future brother-in-law, Alfred Innes. In 1892, the company moved to Shudehill Mill (commonly known as Arkwright's Mill) in Miller Street, Manchester. The mill was later destroyed in the 1940 Manchester Blitz. A listing in 'Whitaker's Red Book of Commerce or Who's Who in Business' published in 1914 identifies Baxendale's as being 'Lead manufacturers, brass founders, furniture manufacturers, electrical manufacturers, glass bevellers and silverers, embossers and lead light workers, sanitary, gas, water, steam and electric fittings, hardware merchants, oil and paint warehousemen, plumbers', decorators' and builders' merchants etc.' At the time, the firm had 1,250 employees.

The General Electric Company (GEC) was created as the General Electric Apparatus Company in 1886 by Hugo Hirst and Gustav Byng from a small electrical business established in London by Byng (Gustav Binswanger and Company, using Byng's original name). In 1887 GEC published the first electrical catalogue of its kind. The following year the company acquired its first factory in Manchester where telephones, electric bells, ceiling roses and switches were manufactured. In 1889, the General Electric Co. Ltd. was formed as a private limited company and moved to larger premises at 71, Queen Victoria Street. Now known also as G.E.C., the company was expanding rapidly, opening new branches and factories. Initially manufacture was focussed on electric bells and light fittings, but this expanded to a wide range of electrical equipment - resulting in the firm's slogan 'Everything Electrical'. In 1893, GEC decided to invest in lamp manufacture. The resulting company, (to become Osram in 1909), was to lead the way in lamp design and the burgeoning demand for electric lighting was to make GEC's fortune. In 1900, GEC was incorporated as a public limited company, The General Electric Company (1900) Ltd, (the '1900' was dropped three years later). In 1902, GEC's first purpose-built factory, the Witton Engineering Works was opened near Birmingham which designed and manufactured electrical equipment and machines. Rapidly growing private and commercial use of electricity ensured buoyant demand and the company expanded both at home and overseas, with the establishment of agencies in Europe, Japan, Australia, South Africa and India and a substantial export trade to South America. The outbreak of the First World War transformed GEC into a major player in the electrical industry with profits to match. The company was heavily involved in the war effort, with products such as radios, signalling lamps and arc-lamp carbons. Between the wars, GEC expanded to become an international corporation and a national institution. The take-over of Fraser and Chalmers in 1918 took GEC into heavy engineering and consolidated their claim to supply 'Everything Electrical'. Other major factories included Osram Lamps at Hammersmith and the telephone works in Coventry. During the 1920s, the company was heavily involved in the creation of the UK national grid. In addition, the opening of the new purpose built company headquarters in Kingsway, London in 1921, and the pioneering industrial research laboratories at Wembley in 1923, were symbolic of the continuing expansion of both GEC and the electrical industry. The company took over several companies in the Birmingham area and elsewhere. After being a minor player in tram equipment, the company entered the heavy rail electric traction market in the 1920’s and 30’s. During the Second World War, GEC was a major supplier to the military of electrical and engineering products. Significant contributions to the war effort included the development of the cavity magnetron for radar, advances in communications technology and the on-going mass production of lamps and lighting equipment. After the war the company continued in the full range of electrical equipment from electronics to atomic power stations, but was not very profitable. In 1961, after a failed takeover bid from the English Electric Company, GEC took over Radio and Allied Industries, a small but very profitable television set manufacturer. Michael Sobell and Arnold Weinstock from this company became GEC directors with a substantial shareholding. Weinstock became managing director in 1963 and undertook drastic changes to make the company more profitable. The rail traction operations were closed and the heavy electrical/ power station businesses were sold to Parsons. A number of ex GEC employees were recruited by Associated Electrical Industries (AEI). A hostile takeover bid was made for AEI in 1967 and the relative profitability/share prices enabled GEC to take over the much larger AEI. In 1968 English Electric agreed to merge with GEC. Further takeovers and mergers made the company one of the largest private employers in the UK. In 1989, Arnold Weinstock agreed a merger between the power and transport businesses of GEC and those of Alsthom of France, part of Compagnie Générale d’Electricité (CGE) to form GEC Alsthom. While Weinstock was in charge the UK arm, the company continued to prosper, but after his death of his son in 1996 he was asked to retire and most of the company’s operations were transferred to France, or were sold off. Small sales and service operations remain for some of the products. Many of the factories have been demolished, with only Stafford continuing on a moderate scale.

Mirrlees, Bickerton & Day Ltd was established in Hazel Grove, Stockport, in 1908, by Charles Day. Day was the manager of Mirrlees, Watson & Co of Glasgow, where he had introduced diesel engines to the company's manufacturing range. The diesel engineering business increased rapidly, and Day was tasked with finding new premises to establish a facility solely for the manufacture of diesel engines. With the financial backing of Henry Neild Bickerton of the National Gas Engine Co, Day established the new company. Between 1908 and 1914, Mirrlees, Bickerton & Day supplied diesel engines to the Royal Navy, the Merchant Navy, Manchester Docks, and power stations. The First World War saw the company develop an oil engine for use in tanks that allowed for the use of tar oil in place of fuel oil, which was difficult to import due to blockades. In 1924, Mirrlees, Bickerton & Day developed the Simplex small semi-diesel engine for use in generating stations and flour mills. The following year saw the introduction of the Nobel engine used in railway workshops and generating stations. As well as developing new, lighter engines, the company also investigated the impact of increased revolution speeds on engine vibration. In 1926, Mirrlees, Bickerton & Day amalgamated with Mirrlees, Watson & Co, with full incorporation happening in 1933. During the Second World War, Mirrlees, Bickerton & Day concentrated on engine production for defence, supplying power for radar, radio-location, airfield and various lighting systems for the Air Ministry. The existing close relationship with the Royal Navy continued, with the company supplying engines for minesweepers, towing vessels and landing craft, auxiliary generating sets for shipboard use, and generating sets for naval bases and fleet air arm stations. In 1944, Associated British Engineering acquired Mirrlees, Bickerton & Day, with Mirrlees, Watson & Co remaining a separate company under the new name Mirrlees Watson Co. Associated British Engineering subsequently transferred Mirrlees, Bickerton & Day to the Brush Group in 1949. From 1950, the company manufactured new types of engines, the J and the K type, and a new method of production known as Flow Production. This production technique was unique to Mirrlees, Bickerton & Day and, coupled with new tooling, a new works layout and the new engine types, made the company one of the most modern diesel engine manufacturers in the world. In 1961, Hawker Siddeley acquired Associated British Engineering, including Mirrlees, Bickerton & Day. The same year, Mirrlees, Bickerton & Day merged with the National Gas and Oil Engine Co to form Mirrlees National Ltd, ending the name Mirrlees, Bickerton & Day. Mirrlees National Ltd became Mirrlees Blackstone in 1969, following its merger with Blackstone and Co.

Manufacturers of electrical accessories and products for commercial and domestic premises. Produced fused electrical switch controls under the brandname of Wylex and fused electrical cooker units under the name of Sonex.