New Pye Exhibition - What Happened Next?

‘What Happened Next?’ exhibition is now open in the Pye Building and explores the period after the Pye Group was acquired by Philips in 1967 to the present day. Come along and see some of the products that continued to evolve under new identities propelling Cambridge into the forefront of technical innovation. This exhibition is open to all visitors to Cambridge Museum of Technology with no additional charge, see main website for opening times, ticket prices and directions.

Introduction

In 1896, William George Pye set up his own company in his garden shed in Cambridge, assisted by his wife Eliza and other members of his family. The business began by manufacturing electromechanical instruments for schools and colleges and, from there, it grew to become a £200 million diverse group of companies and the largest employer in Cambridge.

 At its peak in 1966, Pye of Cambridge comprised more than 60 UK companies and more than 20 overseas.  It employed 30,000 people worldwide, of which 14,000 were based in East Anglia with some 8,000 of them employed in and around the City of Cambridge.

In 1967, Philips Electronics UK purchased a majority shareholding in the Pye Group and over the next ten years Pye was restructured by Philips into main and supporting companies. At this time many of the Pye companies traded under the Pye brand names.

Gradually some of the parts of Pye were absorbed into existing Philips companies, and others were sold or closed. By the 1980s those remaining of the original Pye had begun trading under the Philips brand name, or grouped together under Cambridge Electronic Industries.

Philips had, over the years, vastly expanded its range of companies from its origins as a light bulb manufacturer into a business as diverse as scientific and medical instruments and consumer products. However, in the 1990s it began selling or closing many of its professional/industrial business interests. This resulted in a number of the original Pye companies being sold by Philips.

Today, some of the original Pye companies are still trading under different company names, and some of the original employees continue to work on the same products in these companies.

Whilst the Pye brand name is no longer used, its technology and people live on to this day, designing new products for a global market.