A Pioneering Electronics Company
Pye was at the forefront of Cambridge industry for much of the 20th century. One of the founding technology companies in the city, it grew from a one man start-up in 1896 to be a global player in the 1960s . At its peak it employed over 10,000 people in the Cambridge area and 30,000 people worldwide.
The Pye trademark was a guarantee of quality, performance and reliability in industry and at home. Among its products were the first mains powered radio and the first proximity fuse; Pye trialled colour television in 1953 at the Queen’s coronation and was the first UK licensee to manufacture transistors. The company combined cutting edge innovation with entrepreneurial flair, a formula which still flourishes in Cambridge’s technology industry.
Pye was acquired by Philips and subsequently by other companies. The Pye name has gradually faded from the scene and its legacy to the technology industry in the UK and particularly Cambridge is in danger of being forgotten.
Preserving the Legacy
The Pye History Trust (PHT), led by former employees, has partnered with Cambridge Museum of Technology, which preserves the city’s rich and varied industrial history, to develop a permanent Pye exhibition. The displays, housed in a newly converted building, will showcase the products and people which made Pye great. The PHT is also creating a virtual exhibition on their website: www.pyemuseum.org
Your help is needed to make this project happen
The Museum has recently been awarded £1.32m by the Heritage Lottery Fund for developments including the Pye exhibition. The Heritage Lottery Fund grant is conditional on additional matching funds of £180,000 of which £99,000 has been raised
Local businesses are being invited to be a part of this project which connects the industrial Cambridge of the past to the high technology Cambridge of the present and future.
Sponsorship Packages
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By supporting this project your company will receive exposure to a wide audience in a prime city location, and you will also be supporting a museum which plays an active role in our community by preserving Cambridge’s industrial history and inspiring engineers and technologists of the future.
For more information please contact:
Pam Halls, Curator,
Cambridge Museum of Technology,
07840 758283 [email protected]