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Former British engineering firm based in Hebburn, Tyne and Wear From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A. Reyrolle & Company was a British engineering firm based in Hebburn, Tyne and Wear in the North East of England. For many years the company was one of the largest employers on Tyneside.
Company type | Public |
---|---|
Industry | Engineering |
Founded | 1886 |
Defunct | 1998 |
Fate | Acquired |
Successor | Siemens |
Headquarters | Hebburn, UK |
Products | Switchgear |
The company was founded by Alphonse Constant Reyrolle , a French electrical engineer and entrepreneur,[1] in 1886 at Fitzroy Square in London to produce scientific instruments.[2] He moved the business to Hebburn on Tyneside in 1901.[3] At its peak it manufactured switchgear for power stations worldwide and employed 12,000 people.[3]
The company had its own football team, which evolved into Hebburn Town F.C.[4]
The company merged with C. A. Parsons and Company to form Reyrolle Parsons in 1968.[5] In 1977 Reyrolle Parsons merged with Clarke Chapman to form Northern Engineering Industries plc,[5] which was acquired by Rolls-Royce plc in 1989.[5]
The business was acquired in 1998 by VA Technologie AG,[6] which was acquired by the industrial conglomerate Siemens in 2005, reuniting the company with Parsons under the new owners.[7] Siemens supported the Reyrolle installed base on a global basis, with Operations and Protection based at the remaining section of the original Reyrolle Works in Hebburn, although this constitutes only around 10 percent of the original site.[8] The Major Projects division is based at a modern office building on the nearby Monkton Business Park.[9]
The New Zealand division, Reyrolle Pacific, was sold by Siemens AG/VA Tech to a private individual in New Zealand.[10] This included the switchgear factory in Petone, with a staff of about 100.[11] Reyrolle Pacific Switchgear became RPS Switchgear and manufactures retrofit breakers for the original LMT switchgear, and vacuum breakers and panels for 11 kV substations.[11]
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