Company history

Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti (1864-1930)

Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti was born in Liverpool. His Italian father was a photographer and his English mother was a concert pianist. Ferranti showed a remarkable talent for electrical engineering from his childhood. He was a prolific inventor, who was granted more than 200 patents, including shared patents.

Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti's first invention was an arc light for street lighting, developed when he was just 15. He began working on electrical installation projects whilst employed by the electrical engineering company Siemens Brothers in Charlton, London. In 1882 he founded Ferranti, Thompson and Ince Ltd, which manufactured his acclaimed Ferranti-Thomson alternator and other electrical equipment. It was the first of several companies to bear his name.

In 1886 Ferranti was contracted to upgrade the Grosvenor Gallery's electricity generating and distribution system. This led to his appointment as chief engineer for the construction of Deptford Power Station. Ferranti championed the use of electricity, especially the alternating current system, and pioneered ways of making it more usable. He received an Honorary Doctorate for his achievements, was twice President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and became a Fellow of the Royal Academy.

Deptford Power Station

In 1887 the London Electricity Supply Corporation Ltd (LESCo) decided to build a power station at Deptford, London. Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti became the Chief Engineer. He designed the building, the generating plant and the distribution system. On its completion in 1891, Deptford Power Station was the world's largest power station.

Sir Coutts Lindsay, owner of the Grosvenor Gallery in London, installed an electricity generating plant there in 1884. Surplus electricity was sold to local businesses, but the plant performed poorly. Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti began advising Sir Coutts Lindsay & Co. in 1885 and became its chief engineer in 1886. Ferranti's success at the Grosvenor Gallery convinced the Lindsay family to expand the business by setting up the London Electricity Supply Corporation (LESCo). With sufficient capital in place, the Deptford Power Station scheme took shape.

Ferranti had total control over the design and building of the new power station. The adoption of a high-voltage, alternating current (AC) system meant that electricity could be transmitted efficiently over the seven miles to central London. Ferranti's 10,000-volt supply cables were the major innovation of the project. Deptford Power Station was a huge technical achievement and was the world's first high-voltage generating station.

AC vs DC: the 'Battle of the Systems'

During the 1880s, there was a fierce debate amongst electrical engineers about the relative merits of alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC). It was known as the 'battle of the systems'. Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti was a champion of AC supply. His inventions and successful installation of AC systems contributed to the eventual triumph of the AC system.

By the 1880s, electricity was being used for street lighting and, to a more limited extent, for interior lighting. The type of electrical current and voltage of current varied from one generating station to another. Direct current (DC) systems could only distribute electricity within a 2.4-km (1.5-mile) radius of the generating station and there was substantial energy loss. Alternating current (AC) could be distributed to a wider area, with lower energy loss.

However, the arc lights used for street lighting could only be powered by DC and the higher voltage of AC was regarded as a danger. These safety fears were allayed when Ferranti engineers drove a chisel through the 10,000-volt Deptford Power Station cable without harm. In Portsmouth, Ferranti designed and installed rectifiers that allowed an AC system to be used to power arc lighting. Through these and other contributions, Ferranti was instrumental in making AC the eventual winner of the 'battle of the systems'.

The National Grid

By 1900, there were many electricity suppliers, each supplying a local area. The lack of national standards for current and voltage meant that manufacturers had to produce equipment to widely varying specifications. Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti began to campaign for an organised electricity network in 1910. A standardised network finally arrived with the launch of the National Grid in 1926.

The early generation and supply of electricity evolved with very little regulation. This was causing problems by the 1890s. In some areas, companies were allowed to compete against each other to supply customers, while some areas still had no supply. The 1919 Electricity (Supply) Act set up Electricity Commissioners to organise supply on a regional basis.

With a regional structure in place, the Electricity Supply Act of 1926 aimed to co-ordinate the national supply of electricity. It created the Central Electricity Board (CEB), with the goal of reducing the number of private generating stations in favour of a limited number of large power stations. The power stations were connected by high-tension AC mains cables to form a national network or 'grid'. The National Grid was largely complete by 1935.

Evolution of the Ferranti Company

Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti's company was based in London until 1896, when it moved to Hollinwood, Oldham. It became Ferranti Ltd in 1901. During the twentieth century, Ferranti Ltd became a global company, renowned for its technological innovations. Following financial difficulties, the company ceased trading in 1993.

Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti's first commercial product was the Ferranti-Thomson alternator of 1882. During Ferranti's lifetime, the product range grew to include transformers, cables, meters, domestic appliances and radio components. The company also undertook special contracts, such as supplying switchgear for the Cunard liners Mauretania and Lusitania in 1907. Government defence contracts became a source of business during the First World War, when the Hollinwood factory became a munitions works. Later defence work included radar and missile guidance systems.

From the 1950s, Ferranti Ltd was at the forefront of fields such as computer technology, microelectronics and avionics. As business expanded, new factories were opened in Britain and abroad. The Ferranti family retained control until the mid-1970s. Financial difficulties arose from the merger with the US-based International Signal & Control Group in 1987. As a result, Ferranti International Signal plc had to cease trading in 1993.

Works and Offices

After the move to Hollinwood in 1896, the company retained its London works until 1898. It opened a London sales headquarters in 1912. As the company grew, new premises were acquired, mainly in the Manchester area, but also in Scotland and the South East. Ferranti Ltd also expanded internationally, although most overseas branches were sales agencies rather than manufacturing operations.

By 1896, Ferranti Ltd's production demands had outgrown its London works at Charterhouse Square. The move to Hollinwood, near Oldham, was prompted by the lower costs of land and wages. Production began on the four-acre site in 1897. Hollinwood remained at the core of Ferranti Ltd throughout its history. The site housed the head office, factory space, offices and research facilities.

During the twentieth century, Ferranti Ltd opened several factories and research facilities in the Manchester area, including Moston, Wythenshawe and Gorton. It also had factories in Edinburgh, Dalkeith and Aberdeen, which specialised in avionics and numerical control systems. In 1956, Ferranti Ltd opened a digital systems research facility in Bracknell, Berkshire. The first, and most successful, overseas manufacturing subsidiary was set up in Canada in 1912. Further overseas expansion made the company a global operation by the early 1970s.

Workers

Ferranti Ltd employed a wide range of people. The Ferranti workforce included engineers and scientists, administration staff, skilled workers and manual workers. For many workers, the company was an important part of social life as well as an employer. Ferranti workers ran clubs, societies and sports teams, and held an annual sports day.

By the 1980s, Ferranti Ltd employed 18,000 people in more than 40 works and offices across Britain. Departments developed their own identities, because the company had become geographically divided over the years. The Meter Department, for example, was seen as rather old-fashioned, but with a strong sense of camaraderie. Staff of the 'raffish' Transformer Department were the core of the dramatic society. In the Cathode Ray Department, a glass blower used to make coloured glass animals for colleagues during lunch breaks.

There were also opportunities for workers from different departments to get together socially. Apart from clubs and societies, there were annual events such as the Staff Dinner at the Midland Hotel, Manchester, where formal evening dress was worn. During the evening, it was traditional to sing 'My Old Shako', with everyone joining in with the chorus.

The Ferranti Collection

The Ferranti Collection was presented to the Museum in 1996 by Sebastian de Ferranti, grandson of the company's founder, and the company's administrative receivers. Spanning the full period of the company's life, it consists of the company archives and more than 1,500 objects. To find out about items in the Collection, go to the Collections online page.

Ferranti Ltd gathered together its company archive in 1960 and employed an archivist until 1990. It also built up a collection of its products, partly with the support of current and former employees who donated consumer products such as clocks and radios.

The company records include private letters and notebooks of Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti, photographs and portraits, and technical and commercial literature relating to all divisions of Ferranti Ltd. A large proportion of the archive comprises marketing and publicity material for Ferranti Ltd products, including more than 10,000 photographs. Objects in the Ferranti Collection range in size from tiny microchips to large alternators and transformers. Other types of object include electric meters, cable samples, aircraft instruments, fuzes, valves and electric fires.