Radions Ltd.
Church Street, Bollington near Macclesfield. (1923)

Radions Ltd, incorporated in August 1923 in Bollington, emerged from the collapse of the SCEANDO lamp factory to become a leading valve repair and manufacturing firm during the early radio boom, specialising in converting and producing thermionic valves with BBC approval.
Despite initial success, Radions dissolved in 1932 amid economic pressures, while its offshoot Lustrolux Ltd (founded in 1925 by former Radions staff), continued valve production alongside lamps until the mid-1930s.

The Rise and Fall of Radions Ltd and Lustrolux Ltd: A Narrative History of Bollington’s Radio Pioneers

Precursors: The Collapse of SCEANDO (1918–1923)
The story begins with Crowther & Osborn Ltd, a firm that established SCEANDO, a household electric lamp factory at Lowerhouse Mills in Bollington around 1918. SCEANDO produced lamps using glass from its Bredbury works, supplying retailers like Woolworths under contract. However, in late 1923, SCEANDO collapsed due to patent litigation with major manufacturers over access to tungsten wire for filaments. The liquidation of SCEANDO’s Bredbury glassworks left a vacuum—both literal and metaphorical—that would soon be filled by the dawn of radio.

The Birth of Radions Ltd (24 August 1923)
On 24 August 1923, as the BBC’s first broadcasts crackled across Britain, Radions Ltd was incorporated as a private company [1].

• Capital Structure:
  • £6,000 total: 3,000 cumulative preference shares (£1 each) and 12,000 ordinary shares (5s each).
  • Preference shareholders held significant control, appointing W.L. Turner as a director.
• Key Directors:
  • G.D.G. Leadbetter (Engineer): Technical lead.
  • H.J. Osborn (Engineer): Possibly linked to Crowther & Osborn.
  • W.J. Turner and W.L. Turner: Financial backers.
• Business Focus: Manufacture, repair, and hire of thermionic valves, radio apparatus, and electric lamps.

Early Operations: From Repairs to Innovation
Radions initially occupied Lowerhouse Mills, inheriting SCEANDO’s infrastructure. By late 1923, they relocated to High Mill on Lord Street, symbolizing their ambition.

• Valve Repairs:
  • Specialised in converting “dull emitter” valves (e.g., BTH B5) to bright emitters for 6/6d (32.5p), undercutting new valves priced at 8/- (40p).
  • Advertised as the “largest valve repair firm in the world”, capitalizing on the short lifespan of early filaments.
• Production:
  • Pink Valves: Used phosphorus “getters” to absorb residual gases, enhancing vacuum quality.
  • BBC Endorsement: Marked valves with BBC approval to attract consumers.

Turmoil and the Birth of Lustrolux (1925)
By 1925, tensions erupted between Radions’ financial backers and its technical team, including Mr. Pattison, a SCEANDO veteran. Pattison departed with key staff to form Lustrolux Ltd at Lowerhouse Mills, reclaiming SCEANDO’s original site.

• Lustrolux’s Dual Strategy:
  • Valve Repairs: Continued Radions’ model but added household lamp production as a hedge.
  • Cossor Connection: Anecdotal claims of supplying valves to Cossor, though evidence is scant.
• Workforce:
  • Employed 160 people at its peak, producing ~1 million valves annually using hand-soldering and manual assembly.

Challenges and Decline (1929–1932)
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the rise of mains-powered radios sealed both companies’ fates.

• Radions Ltd:
  • Struck off in July 1932 (London Gazette) due to competition from mass producers like Marconi and Osram [2].
  • Failed to adopt semi-automated production, clinging to labour-intensive methods.
• Lustrolux Ltd:
  • Shifted focus to lamps by the early 1930s as valve repairs dwindled.
  • Survived marginally longer but faded into obscurity by the mid-1930s.

Technological and Industrial Context

• Valve Lifespan: Early filaments lasted mere hundreds of hours, creating a repair boom that Radions and Lustrolux exploited.
• BBC’s Role: The BBC’s 1922 launch spurred consumer demand, but its later standardization of equipment squeezed small firms.
• Bollington’s Mills:
  • High Mill and Lowerhouse Mills transitioned from textiles to electronics, reflecting Cheshire’s industrial adaptability.
  • Provided cheap space for small-scale manufacturing but lacked infrastructure for mass production.

Legacy
Radions and Lustrolux epitomised the volatility of early radio manufacturing—innovative yet fragile.
Their stories highlight:

• Entrepreneurial Grit: Pivoting from lamps to valves amid patent wars and recessions.
• Technical Ingenuity: Mastering vacuum physics with limited resources.
• Local Impact: Sustaining Bollington’s economy during the interwar industrial flux.

Though their factories are long silent, their pink valves and repair ledgers remain artifacts of a fleeting, electrifying chapter in British technological history.

[1] Electrical Review Aug 23, 1923, Page 330.
[2] London Gazette Jul 12, 1932, Page 4564

Key Sources: Happy Valley Archives (Bollington), Saga of the Vacuum Tube (Gerald F. J. Tyne), BBC Engineering Records