Farnborough Business

1947
This business was started in 1947 by two electronics engineers, E. R. Ponsford and L. B. Copestick, Kingston upon Thames, undertaking subcontract work for the Admiralty Research Laboratory, Teddington and the G.P.O.

1948
In 1948 they registered the name Solartron and developed and made power supplies, pulse generators, oscillators and entered the market of oscilloscope design and manufacture.

1951
In 1951 Mr. John Bolton joined the company and became its Chairman and Managing Director. He built up a team of engineers who during the 1950’s developed a wide range of advanced technological products which included: an electronic reading machine, radar simulator devices, and X-ray spectrometer, cybernetic teaching machines and a range of analogue computers , and new companies were set up to develop the various product lines. Meanwhile, company personnel expanded from 18 in 1950 to 830 in 1958. In 1958 the company moved to a new building on a 15 acre site at Farnborough, Hampshire.

1959
The company was acclaimed for quality, design, aggressive selling approach in World Wide markets. In 1959 the Firth Cleveland Group bought a controlling interest (51%) in the company, thus providing finance for business expansion at Farnborough.

1961
In 1961 Solartron Electronic Group were acquired by the Schlumberger Group of Companies as a wholly owned subsidiary. At this time the company went to a functional management system phasing out a number of Managing Directors of its subsidiary companies and substituting one overall Managing Director as well as consolidating the marketing and R&D teams into two single functions.

As part of the Schlumberger group Solartron rationalized their product lines and concentrated less on expansion and more on profitability. Over the next 10 years the number of employees reduced from a peak of 1800 to 1100.

Schlumberger believed in local management and decision making and Solartron whilst regarding themselves as an independent company were able to sell their products under Schlumberger’s name in Europe whilst technologically benefiting by being able to visit associated companies in the USA and Europe etc.

1977
In 1977 a new company, Schlumberger Measurement Control (UK) was formed having Solartron Electronic Group as one of its subsidiaries, as a result of which Solartron was reorganized in order to improve the utilization of resources, facilities and general efficiency into four separate product divisions.

Measurement Group:
Producing digital instruments, data loggers, digital voltmeters and dynamic analysis systems etc.

Weapons Simulation Group:
Producing the Simfire devices for weapons training exercises.

Radar Simulation Group:
Producing radar systems for training air traffic controllers etc.

Transducer Group:
Producing aerospace gas pressure and fuel density sensors for use in air data computers and engine management systems, industrial gas and liquid density sensors used in process and fiscal measurement of fossil fuels, protective systems used for energy control in the electricity power production industry.

1980
In 1980 the Weapons Simulation group left the site and moved to Enfield sharing a factory and facilities with Weston Instruments another Schlumberger subsidiary. In 1982 as part of a reorganization of Schlumberger legal structure within the UK, Solartron Transducers, Weston Instruments and other Schlumberger businesses were transferred to another group company, “Schlumberger Electronics (UK)”, Solartron Transducers thus becoming a division of Schlumberger Electronics (UK).

1986
In 1986 a functional grouping of six Schlumberger companies was created and given the group name of Solartron Transducers but remaining as autonomous entities within Schlumberger Electronics (UK).

1988
In 1988 Radar Simulation Group was sold to Ferranti and left the site and due to a world-wide reorganization of the Schlumberger business the name Schlumberger Electronics (UK) was changed to Schlumberger Industries (UK) and the name of Solartron was dropped from the names of the individual companies operating within the Transducer group, thus the Farnborough plant became known as Schlumberger Industries – Transducer Division, Farnborough. (In the meantime Measurement Group (Instruments) had become part of Schlumberger Technologies group). Also in 1988 the two UK divisions most closely associated with the aerospace market, namely Transducer Division Farnborough and Transducer Division Enfield were combined under one executive management group, who together with the Sales and Marketing functions were located at Farnborough. The Farnborough business thus becomes an autonomous design and manufacturing group of Schlumberger Industries Transducer Division Farnborough/Enfield.