Ferranti

Ferranti or Ferranti International plc was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The firm was known for work in the area of power grid systems and defence electronics. In addition, in 1951 Ferranti began selling an early computer, the Ferranti Mark 1. The Belgian subsidiary lives on as Ferranti Computer Systems and as of 1994 is part of the Nijkerk Holding. Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti established his first business Ferranti, Thompson and Ince in 1882. The company developed the Ferranti-Thompson Alternator. Ferranti focused on alternating current power distribution early on, and was one of the few UK experts. To avoid confusion, he is often referred to as Dr Ferranti to distinguish him from the Ferranti company itself. In 1885 Dr Ferranti established a new business, with Francis Ince and Charles Sparks as partners, known as S. Z. de Ferranti. According to J F Wilson, Dr Ferranti's association with the electricity meter persuaded Ince to partner him in this new venture, and meter development was fundamental to the survival and growth of his business for several decades to come. Despite being a prime exponent of Alternating Current, Ferranti became an important supplier to many electric utility firms and power-distribution companies for both AC and DC meters. In 1887, the London Electric Supply Corporation (LESCo) hired Dr Ferranti for the design of their power station at Deptford. He designed the building, the generating plant and the distribution system and on its completion in October 1890, it was the first truly modern power station. It supplied high-voltage AC power at 10,000 volts, which was transformed to a lower voltage for consumer use where required. Success followed and Ferranti started producing electrical equipment (especially transformers) for sale. Soon the company was looking for considerably more manufacturing space.