|
|
 |
In 1920 Edward E. Rosen founded a company
that started manufacturing headphones. The company
chaged its address twice because of expansion of
activities, and in 1925 Ultra Electric Ltd. was
established. In that year, the product range included
loudspeakers, pickups, battery eliminators, voltage
devices and a portable receiver. |
|
E.H. Munnion, who worked at Marconiphone,
became the chief radio designer at Ultra after the takeover of
Marconophone by His Master's Voice in
1929. The company now focuses on the middle segment of the
market. |
|
Ultra growed steadily and in 1930, 250 workers
were employed. |
|
The first AC receiver was made in 1931. The
company made most of the radio components themselves and
introduced receivers with exotic names like "Panther", "Lynx"
and "Tiger". |
|
In 1935 the company employed 1,500 workers and
produced 1,000 radio's per day. |
|
Like many British companies during WWII, Ultra
switched to war production. Only the "Ultility Set" was made, a
simple radio, which, like the German "Volksempfanger" was
produced by several radio factories. |
|
In 1947 Ultra started again with the production
of consumer goods (initially television sets), and in 1950 they
indroduced the popular "Twin Ultra" radio. |
| Ultra enjoyed strong growth in the
50s and took over "Pilot Radio" in 1959. In 1960, the
company was split into a company for electronics and a
company for the manufacture of receivers. The
acquisition of Pilot, and declining consumer spending
were too big a burden for Ultra and they found it
difficult to survive.
In 1961 it was acquired by Thorn. Rosen retired the same
year. The company continued to make radios and
televisions until 1973. |
| In 1974 the ever-growing Japanese
imports were too big and brand Ultra disappeared
completely . |
|
|
