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| Industry | Manufacturing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 19th century |
| Fate | Bought out; wound up. |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Domestic electrical appliances |
Bulpitt & Sons Ltd was an electrical goods manufacturer and limited company in Birmingham, England, established as a brass founder in the late 19th century. [1]
Contents
In the early 20th century the company registered The "Swan Brand" name. [1]
In the 1920s, the company began manufacturing domestic electrical appliances including kettles and irons. [1] The firm developed the first submersible electric heating element. [1] An early example of a Swan brand copper kettle featuring the immersed heating element is in the collection of the Science Museum Group. [2]
In the 1970s, the company became a subsidiary of BSR (Housewares) Ltd., originally Birmingham Sound Reproducers, manufacturers of turntables for playing records. [1]
The rival French company Moulinex acquired the Swan brand in 1988 [1] and Bulpitt & Sons (Swan Brand) Ltd was eventually dissolved on 21 May 1989, just short of a century after the company's foundation. [1] The Swan brand was acquired by Littlewoods in 2000. In 2017, the brand was bought by Swan Products Ltd [3] and since 2023 has been owned by Sutton Venture Group, operating under that company's RKW trading division. [4]
The firm's kitchenware factory and offices at St George's Works on Icknield Street, Camden Street and Pope Street at the edge of Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter dated back to 1890. [5] Some manufacturing at the site continued until 2006. [1] Property developers began stripping the interior in 2009, in preparation for conversion to office accommodation. [6] Subsequently, the building, renamed The Kettleworks was converted into residential apartments and commercial units, completed in 2019. [7] [8]
