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{{Short description|1897–2006 British telecommunications and engineering company}}
{{About|the Marconi Company (1897–2006)|the 1999 GEC unit|Marconi Communications}}
{{More footnotes|date=June 2016}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox company
| name        = Marconi Company Ltd
| logo        = GEC Marconi logo.svg
| type        = Private company
| fate        = {{Unbulletedlist | Acquired by {{nowrap|[[General Electric Company|GEC]] (1968)}} | Renamed to {{nowrap|[[GEC-Marconi]] Ltd (1987)}}}}
| key_people  = 
| founder     = [[Guglielmo Marconi]]
| foundation  = {{Unbulletedlist | 1897 (as Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company) | 1900 (as Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company) | 1963 (as Marconi Company Ltd)}}
| defunct     = {{Unbulletedlist | 1987 (as Marconi Company Ltd) | 2006 (as Marconi Corporation plc) }}
| location    = 
| owner       = {{Unbulletedlist | {{nowrap|[[English Electric]] (1946–1968)}} | {{nowrap|[[General Electric Company|GEC]] (1968–1998)}} | {{nowrap|[[Marconi plc]] (1999–2003)}} | {{nowrap|[[Marconi Corporation plc]] (2003–2006)}}}}
| predecessor = {{Unbulletedlist | {{nowrap|Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company (1897–1900)}} | {{nowrap|Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company (1900–1963)}}}}
| successor   = {{Unbulletedlist | [[CMC Electronics]] (1903–present) | [[GEC-Marconi|GEC-Marconi Ltd]] (1987–1998) | [[BAE Systems]] (1999 to present) | [[Marconi plc]] (1999–2003) | [[Marconi Corporation plc]] (2003–2006) | [[Ericsson]] (2005 to present) | [[Telent]] (2005 to present)}}
| industry    = [[Telecommunications]]
| products    = 
}}

The '''Marconi Company''' was a British [[telecommunications]] and [[engineering]] company founded by Italian inventor [[Guglielmo Marconi]] in 1897 which was a pioneer of wireless long distance communication and [[mass media]] [[broadcasting]], eventually becoming one of the UK's most successful manufacturing companies.

Its roots were in the Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company, which underwent several changes in name after mergers and acquisitions. In 1999, its defence equipment manufacturing division, [[Marconi Electronic Systems]], merged with [[British Aerospace]] (BAe) to form [[BAE Systems]]. In 2006, financial difficulties led to the collapse of the remaining company, with the bulk of the business acquired by the Swedish telecommunications company [[Ericsson]].

==History==

===Naming history===
* 1897–1900: The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company
* 1900–1963: Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company
* 1963–1987: Marconi Company Ltd
* 1987–1998: GEC-Marconi Ltd
* 1998–1999: [[Marconi Electronic Systems|Marconi Electronic Systems Ltd]]
* 1999–2003: Marconi plc, with [[Marconi Communications]] as principal subsidiary
* 2003–2006: Marconi Corporation plc

===Early history===
[[File:Donald Manson working as an employee of the Marconi Company.jpg|An employee of the Marconi Company, England, 1906|thumb]]
[[File:Albert Einstein with engineers and scientists - RCA radio station - Hagley Archives - restoration1.jpg|thumb|Marconi Wireless Station in [[Somerset, New Jersey]], in 1921]]
[[File:Radio Times - 1923-10-26 - page 168 (Marconi).png|thumb|upright|Marconi advertisement from the 26 October 1923 issue of ''[[The Radio Times]]'', threatening prosecution for infringements of Marconi patents ]]
Marconi's "Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company" was formed on 20 July 1897 after a British patent for wireless technology was granted on 2 July that year. The company opened the world's first radio factory on Hall Street in [[Chelmsford]] northeast of London in 1898 and was responsible for some of the most important advances in radio and television. These include:

* The [[diode]] [[vacuum tube]] in 1904 ([[John Ambrose Fleming|Fleming]])
* [[Transatlantic crossing#Transatlantic radio|Transatlantic]] radio broadcasting<ref>[http://marconi100.ca/clip/marconi-sydpost19071024.html Second Test of the Marconi Over-Ocean Wireless System Proved Entirely Successful]. ''Sydney Daily Post''. 24 October 1907</ref> between [[Clifden]], Ireland and [[Glace Bay]], Nova Scotia, 17 October 1907
* [[High frequency]] [[Tuner (radio)|tuned]] broadcasting
* Formation of the [[British Broadcasting Company]] (later to become the independent BBC)
* Formation of the [[Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America]] (assets acquired by [[RCA Corporation|RCA]] in 1920)
* [[Marconi Marine|Marconi International Marine Communication Co.]] (M.I.M.C.Co.), founded 1900 in London 
* Compagnie de Télégraphie sans Fil (C.T.S.F.), founded 1900 in the [[City of Brussels]] 
* [[Short wave]] [[Light beam|beam]] broadcasting
* [[Radar]]
* [[Television]]
* [[Avionics]]

The subsidiary [[Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America]], also called "American Marconi", was founded in 1899.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilkins |first=Mira |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofforeign0000wilk |title=The History of Foreign Investment in the United States to 1914 |publisher=Harvard University Press |date=1989 |page=520 |isbn=9780674396661 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.65453774&view=1up&seq=906 |title=A Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company for America |journal=Electrical World and Engineer |date=2 December 1899 |pages=870–871 }}</ref> It was the dominant radio communications provider in the US until the formation of the [[Radio Corporation of America]] (RCA) in 1919.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Buckley |first1=Peter J. |last2=Roberts |first2=Brian R. |date=1982 |title=European Direct Investment in the U.S.A. before World War I |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0-312-26940-4 }}{{page?|date=October 2024}}</ref>

In 1900 the company's name was changed to "Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company", and Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Training College was established in 1901. The company and factory was moved within Chelmsford to [[New Street Works]] in 1912 to allow for production expansion in light of the RMS ''[[Titanic]]'' disaster. Along with private entrepreneurs, the Marconi company formed in 1924 the ''[[Unione Radiofonica Italiana]]'' (URI), which was granted by [[Economic policies of Fascist Italy|Mussolini's regime a monopoly]] of radio broadcasts in 1924. After the war, URI became the [[RAI]], which lives on to this day.

In 1909 the company suffered a shortage of cash, and wages were being paid late. Marconi sought a Managing Director with business skills and recruited [[Godfrey Isaacs]] who turned it around. He spearheaded the direction of Marconi until he stood down due to ill-health in 1924 and died the following year. Isaacs was able to take advantage of the boost given to maritime wireless after the sinking of the [[Titanic]] and later moved the company into radio broadcasting where it was the dominant force in the formation of the [[British Broadcasting Company]]. After Isaacs took over running the company its founder focussed on research and development.

[[Isaac Shoenberg]] joined the company in 1914 and became joint general manager in 1924. After leaving Marconi in 1928 he went on to lead research at [[EMI]] where he was influential in the development of television broadcasting.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Isaac Shoenberg 1880–1963 |url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/cp169519/isaac-shoenberg |website=Science Museum Group Collection |access-date=23 March 2024 }}</ref> The project was a collaboration between EMI and Marconi; for Marconi it was led by [[Simeon Aisenstein]], who had joined Marconi at the end of 1921 after being secretly extracted from Russia.   

In 1939, the [[Marconi Research Centre|Marconi Research Laboratories]] were founded at [[Great Baddow]], Essex. In 1941 there was a buyout of Marconi-[[Ekco]] Instruments to form [[Marconi Instruments]].

===Operations as English Electric subsidiary===
[[File:New Street Factory Marconi.jpg|thumb|The New Street factory in 2018]]

[[English Electric]] acquired the Marconi Company in 1946 to complement its other operations: heavy electrical engineering, aircraft manufacture and its railway traction business. In 1948 the company was reorganised into four divisions: Communications, Broadcasting, Aeronautics and Radar. These had expanded to 13 manufacturing divisions by 1965 when a further reorganisation took place. The divisions were placed into three groups: Telecommunications, Components and Electronics.

At this time the Marconi Company had facilities at New Street Chelmsford, Baddow, Basildon, Billericay, and Writtle as well as in Wembley, Gateshead and Hackbridge. It also owned [[Marconi Instruments]], Sanders Electronics, Eddystone Radio and Marconi Italiana (based in [[Genoa]], Italy). In 1967 Marconi took over Stratton and Company to form Eddystone Radio.

===Expansion in Canada===
In 1903, Marconi founded the [[CMC Electronics|Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company of Canada]] which was renamed as the Canadian Marconi Company in 1925. The radio business of the Canadian Marconi Company is known as Ultra Electronics TCS since 2002 and its avionic activities as [[CMC Electronics]], owned by [[Esterline]] since 2007.<ref>Denis Couillard, Ultra Electronics TCS</ref>

===Expansion as GEC subsidiary===
In 1967 or 1968, English Electric was subject to a takeover bid by the [[Plessey|Plessey Company]] but chose instead to accept an offer from the [[General Electric Company]] (GEC). Under UK government pressure, the computer section of GEC, English Electric Leo Marconi (EELM), merged with [[International Computers and Tabulators]] (ICT) to form [[International Computers Limited]] (ICL). The computer interests of [[Elliott Automation]] which specialised in real-time computing were amalgamated with those of Marconi's Automation Division to form Marconi-Elliott Computers, later renamed as [[GEC Computers]]. In 1968, Marconi Space and Defence Systems and Marconi Underwater Systems were formed.

The Marconi Company continued as the primary defence subsidiary of GEC, GEC-Marconi. Marconi was renamed GEC-Marconi in 1987. During the period 1968–1999 GEC-Marconi/MES underwent significant expansion.

Acquisitions which were folded into the company and partnerships established included:

{{Div col}}
* Defence operations of [[Associated Electrical Industries]] in 1968, AEI had been acquired in 1967.
* [[Yarrow Shipbuilders]] in 1985
* [[Ferranti]] defence businesses in 1990
* Ferranti Dynamics in 1992
* [[Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering]] in 1995
* [[Alenia Marconi Systems]] in 1998, a defence electronics company and an equal shares joint venture between GEC-Marconi and [[Finmeccanica]]'s [[Alenia Difesa]].
* [[Tracor]] in 1998.
{{Div col end}}

Other acquisitions included:
* Divisions of [[Plessey]] in 1989 (others acquired by its partner in the deal, [[Siemens AG]], to meet with regulatory approval).
** Plessey Avionics
** Plessey Naval Systems
** Plessey Cryptography
** Plessey Electronic Systems (75%)
** Sippican
** Leigh Instruments

In a major reorganisation of the company, GEC-Marconi was renamed [[Marconi Electronic Systems]] in 1996 and was separated from other non-defence assets.

==Since 1999==
In 1999, GEC was broken up and parts sold off. Marconi Electronic Systems, which included its wireless assets, was demerged and sold to [[British Aerospace]] which then formed [[BAE Systems]]. 

GEC, realigning itself as a primarily telecommunications company following the MES sale, retained the Marconi brand and renamed itself [[Marconi plc]]. BAE were granted limited rights to continue use of the Marconi name in existing partnerships, which had ceased by 2005. Major spending and the [[dot-com collapse]] led to a major restructuring of the Marconi group in 2003: in a debt-for-[[equity swap]], shareholders retained 0.5% of the new company, [[Marconi Corporation plc]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Marconi PLC, Form 6-K, Filing Date Mar 31, 2003 |url=http://pdf.secdatabase.com/660/0001156973-03-000451.pdf |website=secdatabase.com |access-date=17 December 2020 }}</ref>

In October 2005 the Swedish firm [[Ericsson]] offered to buy the Marconi name and most of the assets. The transaction was completed on 23 January 2006, effective as of 1 January 2006.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last1=Milner |first1=Mark |last2=Moore |first2=Charlotte |date=26 October 2005 |title=Ericsson Deal Closes Marconi's Final Chapter |url=http://www.theguardian.com/business/2005/oct/26/frontpagenews |website=the Guardian |access-date=13 September 2021 }}</ref> The remainder of the Marconi company, with some 2,000 staff working on telecommunications infrastructure in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, was renamed [[Telent]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Telent Limited |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00067307 |website=Companies House |access-date=13 September 2021 }}</ref>

==See also==
* {{Annotated link|Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom}}
* {{Annotated link|GEC-Marconi scientist deaths conspiracy theory}}
* {{Annotated link|Imperial Wireless Chain}}
* {{Annotated link|Marconiphone}}
* {{Annotated link|Marconi-Osram Valve}}
* {{Section link|Sinking of the Titanic#14 April 1912}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite book |last=Baker |first=W.J. |date=2002 |orig-year=1970 |title=History of the Marconi Company |publisher=Routledge |location=Oxfordshire |isbn=978-1138863934 }}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Marconi Company}}
* [http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/20060124-080120.html Ericsson press release about the acquisition]
* [http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/modern/marconi/marconi.html Catalogue of the Marconi Archives] At the Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
* [http://www.marconicalling.com/ Marconi Calling] The Life, Science and Achievements of Guglielmo Marconi
* [http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/MarconiHouseStrandAldwychLondon.htm History of Marconi House]

{{General Electric Company plc}}
{{Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom}}
{{Telecommunications industry in the United Kingdom}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Companies established in 1897]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]
[[Category:Defunct technology companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Electronics companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Telegraph companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Guglielmo Marconi]]
[[Category:Companies based in Chelmsford]]
[[Category:General Electric Company]]
[[Category:History of radio technology]]
[[Category:Radio manufacturers]]