Temple audio are Manchester
Graham slee is Barnsley
But no canât think off one in the midlands
Witch hat based in Sutton Coldfield.
We are not the Midlands!
PMC in Biggleswade, does that count as the Midlands?
As there seems to be some confusion about the Midlands âŚ
The East Midlands includes the historic and geographic counties of Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Rutland. The West Midlands comprises Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire.
ProAc are Brackley. Is that Midlands?
Who are we?
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Well, Cradley Heath
And Innuos in Coventry (as well as in Portugal)
Geordies.
Itâs baffling that the region that gave us British Leyland seems to be so poorly represented!
Yes Northamptonshire
I have come up with several theories why there are so few hifi manufacturers in The midlands, then argued myself out of them.
However one that might stand scrutiny, may be that if we look at the history of a lot of these companies they were founded by people who, apart from being very intelligent, and having a background in electronics, control systems,communication, instrumentation ect. Were on the cutting edge of a new technology. For example solid state electronics or developing digital codecs. The Electronics and digital industrial revolution has long since overtaken the mechanical industrial revolution. And even although their isnât much of the heavy industry of the mechanical industrial revolution left in the midlands itâs legacy still lives on in the skills and culture of the people who live there.
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Indeed, I think that is why there are severeal based around Cambridgeshire, which is a hot bed for the electronics and control systems industry, I assume helped by the links with Cambridge University.
And before anybody gets upset! The midlands is absolutely world class for motorsport, automotive engineering, and clothing.
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Somewhere in the back of my mind I recall articles referring to Cranfield Institute of Technology. I cannot find much from a quick search except Max Townshend. I know from conversations with a nephew about his year in industry whilst at Anglia Ruskin that some were looking at digital audio. So yes there foes seem to be a regional connection.
I think somewhat unfairly those Yorkshire businesses have been referred to as garage industry. Certainly I know my fatherâs generation had to use ingenuity to make the most of limited post war components and there was a lot of that not only in Sugden (two distinct companies) but elsewhere, if I remember correctly, Whiteley (correctly Mansfield?) who due to lack of materials made speaker cones from doped yellow dusters.
Then of course there were companies who made parts, Greaves of Sheffield making Linn plinths.
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British LeylandâŚ
That says it allâŚ
What do you expect?
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Had BSR turntables and tonearms in the 1970s. Made in Cradley Heath. (Cough, the common people played their records on Dansettes, also a product of the BSR company.) I was given several pass-ons, but never parted with my own money. ) An older friend of the family had the only decent stereo I heard in my youth, Quad, made in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.
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Leyland also contained Jaguar, Rover, Land Rover and Mini. Happy days driving John Cooper S and Works.
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