Automatic Telephone Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Head Office & Works: Milton Rd., Edge Lane, Liverpool.
London Office: 6o Lincoln's Inn Fields, London W.C.1.

Brand: ATM

Established in 1911 as a telephone manufacturer they also manufactured headphones, loudspeakers, and radio components used in early radios.

In 1923, they signed with the Post Office along with 3 other manufacturers, to supply automatic exchange equipment.

They manufactured Claritone brand loudspeakers which were marketed through sole Distributing Agents Ashley Wireless Telephone Co., Ltd. from 1922.

The range of the company’s products was on display at the All-British Wireless Exhibition at the Horticultural Hall, Westminster, on 30 September 1922 as described in The Wireless World & Radio Review October 7, 1922, pages 10 & 11.

The Automatic Telephone Manufacturing Co., Ltd., of Liverpool, exhibits a full range of practical and well-made accessories. Among these are ATM head telephones, which have been designed to meet broadcasting requirements.

The method of securing the telephones to the headbands is worthy of note. This permits instantaneous adjustment and combined with the absence of weight makes the set extremely comfortable to wear.

ATM loudspeakers are made in two sizes, the smaller being suitable for ordinary use, and the larger for demonstrations, etc., where greater volume is required. designing these loudspeakers, the object has been to secure the reproduction of perfect articulation rather than mere volume of sound plus distortion.

Variable and vernier condensers, fixed condensers, inter-valve, valve telephone and high-frequency transformers, wavemeters, buzzers, coil-holders, and duo-lateral coils are included in the exhibit.

History.

The Automatic Telephone Manufacturing Company (ATM) was a telephone exchange manufacturer established in Liverpool in 1911 by British Insulated Cables. The company was established to manufacture the Strowger telephone exchange system under licence from the Automatic Electric Company of Chicago to serve the Post Office. They were the first maker of automatic exchanges in the UK, setting up the first experimental public automatic telephone exchange in the UK at Epsom in 1912.

In 1923, the Post Office signed a contract with four manufacturers, including ATM, to supply automatic exchange equipment.

In 1932, the name of the company was changed to Automatic Electric Company to represent the wide range of electric products that the company was manufacturing.

In 1936, the company's name was changed again to Automatic Telephone and Electric Company. They eventually merged with The Plessey Company Ltd. and Ericsson Telephones Ltd. in 1961 to form Plessey Telecommunications Group (now Plessey Communications Ltd). [1]

[1] Science Museum Group website, accessed May 2023