Pye was founded by W.G. Pye in 1896 in Cambridge as a manufacturer of scientific instruments. During the First World War, Pye manufactured military equipment, including telescopes and surveying equipment. In 1925, the company branched out into radio; Charles Orr Stanley was hired to lead this branch of the company. Stanley bought the radio part of the company in 1928 from W.G. Pye, while W.G. Pye & Co continued as a separate company until it was bought out by Pye in 1946 (see separate W.G. Pye & Co entry). In 1929, Stanley registered the company as Pye Radio Ltd. Over the next three decades, he formed several subsidiary manufacturing companies, which together came to form the Pye Group. In 1937, the name was changed to Pye Ltd to reflect this widening of activity. The Pye Group was an international company, which made and marketed scientific instruments, communications equipment, radio and television transmitters and receivers, medical equipment, electronic components, electrical equipment and domestic appliances. By 1960, there were 60 UK companies operating under Pye and 20 overseas companies including in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It played a major role in the development of the electronic and communications industries in Britain, manufacturing and developing several important products. Pye played a key role in the development of television from as early as the mid-1920s. In 1930 it began to manufacture television receivers, as well as CRTs and valves. It pioneered television receivers such as the 9-inch receiver in 1936. Once the television service was stopped during World War Two, Pye focused once again on military equipment. It developed Radar, a system for protecting against mine-laying equipment, the Proximity Fuse and differing forms of wireless communication. After the resumption of the service in 1946, Pye maintained its dedication to television, continuing to manufacture receivers and parts. This included demonstrating colour television in 1949, transformer-less television sets, Black Screen Television (sets that did not require darkness to view), Automatic Picture Control (to help prevent reception interference) and the first 27-inch screen, shown at the Radio Show in 1955. The Pye Printed Circuit was incorporated into television receivers in 1956. In 1960, Pye TVT was established as a separate company for the manufacture of television studio equipment including transmitters and cameras. Pye’s communications division, Pye Telecommunications Ltd, made large developments in radio and wireless technologies. Following the merger of the Pye and EKCO groups in 1960 the combined company was known as British Electronics Industries Ltd. This was changed to Pye of Cambridge Ltd in 1963. Despite these successes, Pye was under increasing financial pressure in the 1960s and was eventually bought out by Philips in 1966. C.O. Stanley resigned as head of the company and went into retirement. In 1967 the Philips Group gained a majority shareholding in Pye and formed Pye Holdings Ltd to administer the Pye Group of companies. Gradually, over the next 7 years, most of the Pye Group companies were absorbed into the operating companies of Philips Electronics UK. In 1996, when Philips Electronics UK sold the large radio communications division (formerly Pye Telecommunications) to form Simoco International Ltd, this became the parent company of all the ex-Pye and Philips radio communications companies worldwide. Philips continued to selectively use the Pye name as a secondary brand in various countries for many years and to this day Pye branded consumer products are sold by the Philips Group, particularly in Australia and South East Asia.

Pye TVT Ltd was a subsidiary of the Pye Group Ltd which specialised in communications and broadcasting technology. The Pye Group was a world-wide electronics organisation which made and marketed scientific instruments, communications equipment, radio and television transmitters and receivers, medical equipment, electronic components, electrical equipment and domestic appliances of every kind. The company catered for a variety of sectors including military, industrial and government-based clients. The group was founded by William George Pye in 1896 and operated under various names (under Pye Group, Philips Ltd, EKCO and Cambridge Electronics Industries) throughout the 20th century. Pye TVT Ltd was established in 1946 as “Department 24” at the Pye Group’s Cambridge factory site on Haig Road. The company was set up to develop and manufacture sound and television broadcasting equipment and systems for a global audience. Their product range included equipment for complete broadcasting studios, transmitting stations and outside broadcast vehicles. Closed circuit television equipment was also produced with a range of specialised products for nuclear CCTV applications. A full range of professional tape recorders was also marketed for sound and television broadcast studios and multi-channel requirements of airports. In 1958 Pye TVT Ltd moved its manufacturing functions to a site on York Street in Cambridge, with its labs remaining at the original Haig Road site. In 1960 Pye Ltd established Pye TVT Ltd as a brand. In 1961 the CCTV development and manufacturing arm of the company was transferred to PTD, with sales handled by PBS. The nuclear energy parts of the business remained at Pye TVT Ltd. In 1963 manufacturing and development moved again to the Pye Woodcraft Products site at Coldhams Lane Cambridge. In 1970 Philips transferred their transmitter business from Hilversum and PTAB (VHF Transmitters) to TVT. Also the Philips studio activity at Weybridge was moved to TVT. In 1971 Philips intergrated Pye TVT Ltd into their broadcast activity. Pye TVT became the Broadcast Centre for Philips with plants in Breda (Holland) Montvale (USA) and Cambridge. In 1986 the Studio Division of Pye TVT Ltd was closed down by Philips, with its other business activity centred in Germany and Holland. In 1987 the company was sold by Philips to Varian Associates in California, where it continued under the name Varian TVT. In 1991 Varian TVT was sold to Harris Allied in Florida, where it was assimilated into Harris Broadcast. This company later moved to Huntingdon, and ceased trading several years later.

Pye Ltd formed Pye Telecommunications Ltd (PTL) in 1944 as a wholly owned subsidiary company. It was intended to expand on the experience gained during the Second World War for developing and manufacturing Army communications equipment. From the 1940s, the company had production units in five locations – Cambridge, Lowestoft, Dublin, Haverhill and Brixton. Overseas manufacturing plants opened in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, with offices in New York, Berlin and Paris. Associated companies included Pye Marine Ltd, Faraday Electronic Instruments Ltd, Telecommunications Ltd and Cathodeon Crystals Ltd. The company grew to be one of the leading UK producers of mobile radio equipment for commercial, business, industrial, police and government purposes. The company continued to operate under the name of Pye Telecommunications Ltd after the Philips takeover of Pye in 1966 until 1986 when it transformed into Philips Radio Communications Systems.

W. G. Pye & Co was founded in 1896 by W.G Pye as a business of making scientific instruments for research and education for supply to universities and schools. During the First World War, it produced, among other instruments, a range of gun sights, the first Aldis signalling lamps and the Hartree height finder. During the 1920s, it made and sold radio sets but in 1928 sold the radio business to C.O. Stanley who set up Pye Radio Ltd, which later became Pye Ltd. The instrument business continued as a separate business from Pye Ltd until it was acquired by Pye Ltd in 1946. W.G. Pye & Co Ltd made a variety of electronic instruments, including gauges, oscillators, amplifiers, power supply units and switches. In addition, it made a range of magnetic and chemical instruments. It also made a range of equipment for physics demonstrations in schools including surface tension torsion balances, thermal conductivity apparatus, tuning forks, stands etc.

Cathodeon Limited was founded to develop and produce television camera pick-up tubes. Other products included storage tubes, hermetic seals and specialised switches. The company also worked on new types of TV camera tube, particularly for operation with infra-red, ultra-violet or low intensity illumination.

Cathodeon Crystals Ltd was formed by Pye Ltd in 1952 and was part of its Industrial components, processes and services division, specialising in the design, development and manufacture of high precision quartz crystals for frequency control in all radio and telecommunications systems and equipment. It main site was in Linton, Cambridge. it manufactured electronic components including quartz crystals, crystal filters and crystal oscillators. Its largest customers were Pye Telecommunications and Racal Tacticom. In 1981 it was transferred by Philips into Cambridge Electronic Industries, before being closed in 1989.

Cathodeon Electronic Ltd specialised in the development and manufacture of Cathode Ray Tubes for television receivers and for scientific and industrial applications.

This company was broadly concerned with electronic equipment engineering. It was a leader in the field of high-fidelity sound-reproducing.

This company specialised in the labour-saving appliances and domestic heating, both by electricity and oil. It was famous for its Hawkins pressure cookers.

Labgear specialised in the development of nucleonic instrumentation, manufacturing equipment for industrial, medical and research applications of radio-active isotopes.

This was one of the oldest established audio companies in the world and was renowned for its advanced technique in Sound Reinforcement. It manufactured speaker equipment for large buildings and was widely used by the BBC.

The company marketed a range of electrical power and distribution equipment, heating equipment and other electrical products.