British Thomson-Houston (BTH) (1896) identified a 25 acre site known as Glebe Farm in Rugby in 1900, which was chosen because of its central location in Britain, the close proximity of the River Avon to provide cooling for the manufacturing operations, and the important intersection of the site by two main railway lines. The Works opened in 1902 making electric lamps, motors, generators and meters, by 1903 the works had expanded across the footpath towards Leicester Road. The Works were taken over by Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) in 1928, which manufactured motor and control gears and traction equipment. During the Second World War the Rugby works commenced manufacture of supplies for the armed forces as well as a general increase in output for all of its existing products. Part of the original lamp works had to be cleared to create space for the manufacture of ammunition shells. In April 1937-1938, the works expanded with a new office block at Rugby, designed to house the engineering and commercial offices, this new building enabled 27,000 sq. ft. elsewhere in the Works to be released for manufacturing functions. During World War II, the Rugby Works produced products and mechanisms for the war efforts. Following the war was the expansion of the research laboratory onto Boughton Road in 1957. In 1967 the General Electric Company (GEC) bought AEI took over the Rugby works. In the 1980s GEC Rugby buildings were demolished and parcels of land were sold off to developers. In 1989 GEC merged with the French company Alsthom, and the Rugby works were split into GEC Alstom and Cegelec Projects, with the two firms reunited in 1998 as Alstom. In 2007, some of the buildings of the Works were partially demolished as part of redevelopment. In the present day building 140 is occupied by General Electric (American) and the other part of the site is owned by Warwickshire College Sport Fitness & Rugby Centre.

The British Thomson-Houston Co. Ltd., (BTH) was created as a subsidiary of the General Electric Company, USA in 1896 to exploit the sale of products in the United Kingdom. BTH was a reconstruction of an existing firm, Laing, Wharton and Down (1886). The BTH manufacturing works were based at Rugby, Warwickshire and the company’s products included induction motors, alternators, switchgear, turbo-generators and turbines, as well as a large number of rotary converters and motor converters, primarily for chemical plants. During the First World War, BTH’s most significant contribution was the development of marine apparatus for the naval service. The 1920s saw a period of vast expansion for the company with new extensions built at many of its factories such as Willesden, Birmingham, Chesterfield and Lutterworth. BTH amalgamated with Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Company Ltd to form Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) in 1928 although both companies retained their separate identities and continued to compete for the same contracts. BTH developed manufactured electric torpedoes and electrical components for aircraft engines, munitions, etc., during the Second World War and in 1935 independently of each other, BTH and Metropolitan-Vickers were the first two companies in the world to construct jet engines.