Parkinson Cowan Limited was created out of the amalgamation of W. Parkinson Ltd, a London business operating a 'gas undertaking' founded in 1816, and W. and B. Cowan of London, Manchester, Edinburgh and New South Wales, manufacturers of gas meters and other gas apparatus, in November 1900. The amalgamated business changed its name from Parkinson and W. and B. Cowan to Parkinson Cowan in 1928. The Company number was 67826. Parkinson Cowan opened a factory manufacturing gas meters in Stretford, Manchester in 1919. During the Second World War the business became involved in manufacturing parts for aircraft, particularly the de Havilland Mosquito. The business formed several subsidiaries, including Parkinson Cowan (Gas Meters) Ltd (from 1900), Metropolitan Leather Co. Ltd. (from 1930), and Parkinson Cowan Appliances Ltd. By 1960 Parkinson Cowan had acquired Measurement Ltd of Oldham. Further acquisitions in the 1960s saw the business takeover Bastian and Allen and Fischer Bendix. In 1971, business losses led to Parkinson Cowan being taken over by Thorn, and becoming part of Thorn Electrical Industries. The company was restructured in 1982 and the boilers business operated under the name Thorn EMI Industrial Boilers. Parkinson Cowan entered liquidation in January 1993, however the name Parkinson Cowan continued to be used for a brand of cooking appliances manufactured by Electrolux.

Formed as a result of the Gas Act 1986 used as an instrument for the privitisation of the Brtish Gas Corporation. Shares in the newly privatised company were floated on the 8th December 1986. The company was demerged into several smaller parts, in 1997, Centrica, BG Group and Transco.

J. & J. Braddock was an Oldham-based manufacturer of gas meters, pressure gauges, and other related equipment. Originally known as Newton & Braddock, run by partners George Newton, Joseph Braddock the younger, and Joseph Braddock the elder, the company became J. & J. Braddock when Newton left in 1869. J. & J. Braddock became part of Meters Ltd in 1897 and is known to have continued trading until at least 1937.

George Wilson Industries Limited was established as George Wilson Gas Meters in Coventry in 1904. The business became a public listed company in 1937. In that same year George Wilson was advertising itself as producing 'all types Dry Gas Meters; Test, Cost, Demonstration, Day and Night, Two-part Tariff, Therm, Detective. Service Collectors. Rutten Valves. Governors. Padlocks. Leather Gloves, Mitts, Maintenance Goods. Pressure Gauges. Gas Immersion Heaters' at the British Industry Fair. By 1961 the company was described as 'Manufacturers of gas burning, oil burning and other appliances in domestic and industrial fields.' They also manufactured gas meters. At this time the company had 350 employees. In 2008 George Wilson Industries, now also known as GWi, was part of the BI Group along with GMT. The BI Group was part of Elster Handel GMBH.

George Glover and Co was established in London in 1860 by Dr George Glover and his nephew, J. William Glover, as a manufacturer of dry gas meters in Westminster, London. It became a limited company in 1901, at the time it amalgamated with the Richmond Gas Stove and Meter Company. At this time the business opened premises in Chelsea, in addition to the Ranelagh Works in Pimlico. In 1919 Richmond Ltd was established to take over and run the gas stove and gas appliance makers and dealers. By 1922 the company had expanded and had branches at the Gaythorn Meter Works, Easton Street, Manchester and Dewsbury Road, Leeds. In 1959, Richmond sold George Glover and Co to Glover and Main, bringing together two separate businesses founded by the same family. In April 1960 George Glover and Co closed after a century of operation. By then the firm had 200 employees.

Ferranti International plc was an electrical engineering company originally established in 1883 as S Z de Ferranti. Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti had previously worked for Siemens Brothers in London before starting his first company, Ferranti, Thompson and Ince Ltd, in 1882 to manufacture alternators. When this company was wound up in 1883, de Ferranti bought back his patents in his alternator design and set up S Z de Ferranti with C P Sparks the same year. The business became a limited liability company in 1889, changing name to S Z de Ferranti Ltd. In 1896, the company moved from London to new premises in Hollinwood, Oldham, where land and labour were cheaper. In 1901, a new company name, Ferranti Ltd, was registered. Ferranti Ltd acquired the undertakings and assets of S Z de Ferranti Ltd the same year. The company ran into financial difficulties in 1903, largely through the investment in developing steam engines and dynamos. At the instigation of the debenture stockholders the company went into voluntary receivership. In 1905, the company was relaunched under a scheme of reconstruction, with production limited to the manufacture of switch gear, transformers and instruments. De Ferranti himself took a less active role in the running of the reconstituted company. Ferranti Ltd expanded its output in 1912 from electricity generating and distribution equipment to include electrical domestic appliances, establishing the Domestic Appliance Department. Expansion overseas began in 1913 when the Ferranti Electric Company of Canada was created as a separate business to the main company. By 1914, Ferranti Ltd was spread over several sites. It suspended normal production during the First World War and concentrated on the manufacture of shells. This was the first of Ferranti’s government defence contracts. The 1920s saw a resumption of manufacturing of civilian products. In 1923, production of audio frequency transformers signalled Ferranti Ltd’s move into electronics. In 1926, the company resumed manufacturing domestic appliances, beginning with electric fires, and began trading in the United States as Ferranti Electric Inc, New York. 1927 saw the re-establishment of the Domestic Appliance Department. In 1929, Ferranti Ltd began producing commercial radio receivers and in 1935 established its Moston radio factory, to which the Domestic Appliance Department moved in 1937. Shortly afterwards, television manufacturing started at the Moston site. Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti died in 1930, and his son Vincent de Ferranti became company chairman in his place. During the 1930s, the company became closely associated with devices that would feature strongly in the Second World War, including thermionic valves (vacuum tubes) used in radios and radar, avionics and naval instruments. During the Second World War, Ferranti Ltd produced marine radar equipment, gyro gun sights for fighters and one of the world’s first IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) radar systems, which reduced the possibility of firing on friendly aircraft or ships. In 1943, the company opened its Edinburgh factory to manufacture gyro gun sights. The Edinburgh site would become Ferranti Ltd’s hub for the manufacture of military defence equipment. Ferranti Ltd retained its interest in the defence sector after the Second World War. From 1948, the company began to develop guided missiles, especially the Bloodhound, at the Moston factory and later at the Wythenshawe factory. While the defence and communication market expanded throughout the 1950s, domestic products became unprofitable and were dropped. The company sold its radio and television interests to E K Cole Ltd in 1957, and the Domestic Appliance Department closed the following year. Ferranti became increasingly associated with ‘high-tech’ devices, including microwave communications equipment built at Poynton, near Stockport. Ferranti Ltd moved into computing in 1949, with the establishment of the Computer Department. The department produced the first Ferranti Mark I computer, a commercial version of the ‘Baby’ computer developed by Manchester University, at the Moston factory in 1951. It was the world’s first commercially produced computer. Computer production moved to a factory in West Gorton in 1956, but the Computer Division was sold to International Computers and Tabulators Ltd (ICT) in 1963. Other sections of the company continued to develop computer technology for more specialised applications. Ferranti Ltd also invested in semiconductor research, leading to its development of the first European microprocessor, the F-100L, at its Bracknell plant. Ferranti Ltd also produced non-standard silicon chips to suit individual customers’ needs. The Hollinwood factory continued to produce generating plant, such as large transformers, establishing the Distribution Transformer Department in 1957. This department operated until 1967. By 1975 the company was in financial difficulty and the British Government bought a 50% stake in Ferranti Ltd to enable the company to continue developing its telecommunications and computerised control systems. In 1984, the company was restructured into five operating divisions: Ferranti Defence Systems, Ferranti Industrial Electronics, Ferranti Computer Systems, Ferranti Electronics, and Ferranti Instrumentation. Ferranti Ltd merged with the US based International Signals and Control Group in 1987. The company traded very briefly as Ferranti plc in May 1988, prior to its official name change to Ferranti International Signal plc. The US company had been over-valued because of fraudulent practice. This affected the operation of the newly formed company, and the Defence and Guided Weapons Divisions were sold off to competitors in the area of defence work. Following the discovery of the fraud in 1989, Ferranti International Signal plc was renamed Ferranti International plc in 1990. The fraud amounted to a loss to Ferranti of £215 million as a result of this the company began legal proceedings against the former Chairman of International Signals & Control Mr James Guerin and three other senior employees. Ferranti were successful and Mr Guerin was ordered to pay $189.9 million to the Ferranti group. A similar judgement was given against the others who were also ordered to repay $189.9 million to the group. As a consequence of the fraud Ferranti had to dispose of several of its interests in order to raise badly needed cash to reduce its debt burden. Amongst the companies sold were Ferranti Defence Systems Group to the General Electric Company. The Italian companies owned by Ferranti International plc were sold to Finmeccancia plc. Various other smaller interests, including civil computer maintenance, Dundee components and laser business, and a joint venture Thomson-CSF SA were also sold. Not all the money was recovered, and on 1 December 1993 Ferranti International plc went into receivership, with the remaining company divisions sold off.

W.C. Holmes and Co was a gas and chemical engineers and contractors established in Chapel Hill, Huddersfield, in 1850. In 1880 the firm moved to Turnbridge, Huddersfield. The company also had offices in London from at least the 1860s. Patents dating form 1853 were taken out by William Cartwright Holmes concerning 'improvements to the manufacture of gas and apparatus' led to a new and simplified type of gas plant. Records from this period show that financial assistance was offered to those commissioning the firm's gas plants. By the turn of the century, over 300 installations of extensions had been carried out in towns, villages and private houses in Britain. W.C. Holmes also carried out work overseas, including building a gas works for the King of Siam. In 1914 W. C. Holmes listed its products and services as ‘apparatus for the purification of gas; roofs, bridges etc.; chemical plant. The 1940s saw the business expand, acquiring an interest in George Waller and Son Ltd, and majority shares in the manufacturing companies B. Thornton Ltd as well as Schofield and Taylor Ltd. W. C. Holmes itself was acquired in 1949 alongside Bryan Donkin Co by a new public company, B.H.D. Engineers, formed as a mechanical, chemical and gasworks plant engineering business and iron foundry. By 1961 W. C. Holmes was described as a gas and chemical engineers, dust collection and control plant with 630 employees. At this time, they were the UK distributers for Connersville-type meters. In 1973 W. C. Holmes’ parent company BHD Engineers was itself acquired by Hanson Trust. They later sold the majority of the business, with W. C. Holmes and Co going to the American company Peabody Galion. W.C. Holmes was sold again in 1990, this time to US-owned Dresser Roots in 1990. The company finally closed in 2012, by which time there were 60 employees.

Alder and Mackay Limited was a manufacturer of gas meters based in Edinburgh and Bradford. In 1914 the business had 450 employees. The company was amongst the exhibitors at the 1937 British Industries Fair, describing its products as 'Latest designs Ordinary and Prepayment Dry Gas Meters. Demonstration and Test Meters. Standard Test Holder and Meter Testing Apparatus.' The company is known to have been active until at least 1962, by which time it was a subsidiary of United Gas Industries.

Begwaco Meters Ltd was a gas meter manufacturers based in Farnworth, Bolton, Lancashire. Begwaco is known to have been in existence between 1948 and 1959. Founding Chairman Colonel W. M. Carr reported that he had founded the business in order to 'break the price ring' in gas meter manufacturing. In 1948 Begwaco was described as being one of numerous gas companies in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, South Wales and North Home Counties owned by the United Kingdom Gas Corporation. The company was the subject of negative publicity when at least 22,000 defective meters were shipped out to various UK gas boards. These would have result in the customers being under-billed for their usage. The last known mention of the company dates to 1959.

J.B. Rombach Anlagenbau GmbH is based in Karlsruhe, Germany. The company is involved in chemical engineering, plant construction, plant engineering and environmental technology systems. Historically known as J.B. Rombach GmbH, the business has manufactured gas meters since at least 1900, alongside industrial equipment, scientific and optical instruments, and measuring, calculating and testing devices. Much more recently, it has moved into robotics.