News
Company Background
To stay in business for 100 years is truly a great achievement, but to do it in
a century that has seen such unprecedented social and technological change is
almost a miracle. Yet through all that the century could throw at it, including
two world wars, WJ Furse has remained a constant force in an unpredictable
world.
It started in 1893 when
William Joseph Furse (left) acquired the premises and
steeple jacking business of Joshua Till on Burton Street in Nottingham. Starting
with one employee, Mr
WJ Furse improved and expanded the business. Recognising at
an early stage the growing importance of electricity, he diversified into
electrical installation, and opened a workshop in Goldsmith Place for the
manufacture of switchgear and components.
The next seven years to the turn of the century saw a relocation to Traffic
Street, and the further development of the business into a multi-disciplined
engineering concern, adding lift and theatre equipment manufacture and
installation to its existing activities.
The first quarter of the new century including the years of the Great War
1914-1918 saw a continuation of the company's growth with electrical
installation subsidiaries opened in Manchester and London, and a steeple jacking
branch also in Manchester. The company was incorporated in 1912 as
W J Furse &
Co Ltd with the founder as chairman, and his sons
W F Furse and
H J Furse as
directors.
In 1926 Furse Wholesale Ltd was set up as a subsidiary of the main company, to
handle trade sales of electrical equipment. In 1927 the Refrigeration Division
was formed to sell the 'Frigidaire' range of products.
William Joseph Furse died in 1937. His son W F Furse became group chairman and
Managing Director.
Throughout the Second World War, the company was heavily involved in war work
which fuelled considerable growth.
By the early 1950's
WJ Furse was ready to expand again, and new offices and stores
were built at Wilford Road for the Steeplejack Division. This was followed in
1954 by relocation of the foundry from Traffic Street to Wilford Road.
In 1958 the company was acquired by E V Industrials Ltd, who in turn sold their
interests in the organisation to Crown House in 1967. The following years under
Crown House were a stable, but not uneventful period.
Furse Electrical Contracting was merged with other interests within the Crown
House Group to form Crown House Engineering. In 1972 the refrigeration division
was closed down, and the following year, Peerless Engineering was acquired.
Mr J K Furse, the last member of the Furse family to be connected with the
company, retired in 1977.
Also in that year, Furse Power Products Ltd (formerly Furse Wholesale Ltd) was
merged with other interests to form National Electrical Supplies Co Ltd later
becoming Best and May, and now Senate.
The later 1980's and early 1990's were a turbulent time for Furse. In 1987, the
organisation changed hands twice, as first Coloroll Plc and then Thomas Robinson
Group took control. Coloroll had taken over the whole of the Crown House Group
in order to obtain its tableware interests. The engineering companies within the
group were quickly sold on, with Furse finding a buyer in the rapidly growing
Thomas Robinson Group, based in Derby.
Robinson's saw the need to create three separate companies from the three
divisions of W J Furse and from January 1988, Lift Division became Furse Lifts
Ltd, Steeplejack Division became Furse Specialist Contracting Ltd, and
Engineering Division retained the original company name of W J Furse & Co Ltd.
Theatre Products was sold off to CCT in the following year, but Thomas Robinson
commenced a £2m programme of investment in the rest of the Furse organisation
including a new computer system, production equipment and building improvements.
Furse Lifts Ltd was acquired by Thyssen Lifts and Escalators, the UK arm of a
German based company.
At the beginning of the 1990's the UK slipped into recession, and the fortunes
of the Thomas Robinson Group changed for the worse.
In June 1991 W J Furse & Co Ltd and Furse Specialist Contracting Ltd were
acquired by East Midlands Electricity Plc, a UK regional electricity company.
EME afforded W J Furse their full support and encouraged the company's ambitious
investment program in new and improved manufacturing facilities.
Since 1998 Furse have been a part of the
Thomas & Betts corporation.
Thomas &
Betts, based in Memphis, USA, are a world leaders in the supply of electrical
components.
Over 100 years after the firms inception, the
Furse name continues to be
synonymous with innovative engineering and management success, and stands as a
tribute to its founder.