BRUSH Group deliver end-to-end engineering solutions, including consultancy, design, project management, and award-winning technologies, to projects across the UK. With nearly 150 years of expertise, and a reputation for industry-leading transformers and switchgear, BRUSH Group has cemented its position as a leader in its sector and is committed to developing solutions that meet the demands of today’s energy management landscape.

Acquired by One Equity Partners (OEP) in 2021, in recent years BRUSH Group has experienced transformational growth, expanding through the strategic acquisition of Aprenda Ltd, KUS Power Engineering, Eta Projects, Poise, Co.Bo.T, and RYBKA.

The company’s head office is located in Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK, which is also home to its transformer manufacturing and test facilities with switchgear manufacturing operating from Blackwood, South Wales. The company has a number of other locations across the UK and Italy.

History

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Charles Francis Brush, born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1849, founded the Brush Electric Light Company, which stayed in business in the U.S. until 1889 when it was sold to the Thomson-Houston Company making Brush a wealthy man.[1]

In 1880, the Anglo-American Brush Electric Light Corporation was established in Lambeth, London.[2] Its formation was to exploit the invention of Brush's first electric dynamo in 1876.

As the business grew, due to the demand for new electrical apparatus, larger premises were sought, and in 1889 the corporation moved 100 miles north into the newly acquired Falcon Engine and Car Works at Loughborough under the new name, Brush Electrical Engineering Company Limited.[3]

In 1914, the company began manufacturing Ljungstrom steam turbines under licence.

Over the next sixty years, the business grew by acquisitions, until in 1957, the Brush companies were incorporated into the Hawker Siddeley Group.[4] Within the group, the company manufactured a vast range of electrical products, including turbo generators, salient pole machines, induction motors, traction motors and generators, traction locomotives, switchgear, transformers and fuses.

In November 1991 Hawker Siddeley Electric Power Group was subject to a successful hostile takeover bid of £1.5 billion from BTR plc, a large engineering conglomerate. In November 1996 the FKI Group of Companies acquired the Hawker Siddeley Electric Power Group from BTR for a price of £182 million. On 1 July 2008 Melrose plc, a specialist investor in the manufacturing industry, bought FKI.[5]

During the last 125 years, various Brush companies (Brush Switchgear, Brush Transformers, Brush Traction and Brush Control Gear) have existed on the Falcon Works site, but throughout this period Brush Electrical Machines Ltd manufacturing generators and motors has always been the largest company. Over 5,000 staff were employed on the site during the 1960s and 70s.

The following products are manufactured by Brush:

  • Air-cooled turbo generators in the range of 20 to 300MVA
  • Turbomotors from 10 to 100MW
  • Associated control equipment

In 2022, Brush Electrical Machines became a part of Baker Hughes.[6]

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Brush Group website

References

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  1. ^ "Charles Francis Brush". Grace's Guide.
  2. ^ "Anglo-American Brush Electric Light Corporation". Grace's Guide.
  3. ^ "Brush Electrical Engineering Company". Grace's Guide.
  4. ^ "Brush Switchgear". Grace's Guide.
  5. ^ "Melrose Plc - History". Archived from the original on 11 May 2009.
  6. ^ "Generators, Synchronous Condensers, and Motors | Baker Hughes". www.bakerhughes.com. Retrieved 2023-11-01.