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{{Short description|Former British engineering firm based in Hebburn, Tyne and Wear}}{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

factoids

A. Reyrolle & Company was a British engineering firm based in Hebburn, Tyne and Wear in the North East of England. For many years the company was one of the largest employers on Tyneside.

History

The company was founded by {{Ill|Alphonse Constant Reyrolle|de}}, a French electrical engineer and entrepreneur,Son of Martial Reyrolle and Marie Faye in 1886 at Fitzroy Square in London to produce scientific instruments.JOURNAL, 10.1049/ir:19960214, IEEE Xplore, A lesson in industrial survival, IEE Review, 1996, 42, 2, Jones, W.S, 75–78, He moved the business to Hebburn on Tyneside in 1901.WEB,weblink Open Writing: 50 - The Office Messenger, Openwriting.com, 6 May 2021, At its peak it manufactured switchgear for power stations worldwide and employed 12,000 people.The company had its own football team, which evolved into Hebburn Town F.C.{{fchd|id=REYROL-1|name=Reyrolles}}The company merged with C. A. Parsons and Company to form Reyrolle Parsons in 1968.WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160303174719weblink">weblink dead, Cranes in NZR Service, 3 March 2016, Nzrcranes.org, 6 May 2021, In 1977 Reyrolle Parsons merged with Clarke Chapman to form Northern Engineering Industries plc, which was acquired by Rolls-Royce plc in 1989.(File:Scan of an early Reyrolle Logo.png|thumb|alt=Scan of and early Reyrolle logo showing and early open frame switchgear design|Scan of and early Reyrolle logo showing and early open frame switchgear design)(File:Reyrolle site 1990-2004.png|thumb|alt=Reyrolle Hebburn site 1990-2004|Reyrolle Hebburn site layout between 1990 and 2004. Most of the site is now a housing estate. Only the Protection business of the original Hebburn site remains owned by Siemens.)The business was acquired in 1998 by VA Technologie AG,WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160304113516weblink">weblink dead, 2016-03-04, Reyrolle switchgear and Peebles Transformers sold by Rolls-Royce to VA Tech, International Power Generation, October 1998, 20 September 2015, which was acquired by the industrial conglomerate Siemens in 2005, reuniting the company with Parsons under the new owners.WEB,weblink Siemens, Siemens.com, 6 May 2021, Siemens supported the Reyrolle installed base on a global basis, with Operations and Protection based at the remaining section of the original Reyrolle Works in Hebburn, although this constitutes only around 10 percent of the original site.Welcome to Siemens Reyrolle {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417094020weblink |date=April 17, 2010 }} The Major Projects division is based at a modern office building on the nearby Monkton Business Park.Staff devastated by redundancy news Shields Gazette, 21 May 2010The New Zealand division, Reyrolle Pacific, was sold by Siemens AG/VA Tech to a private individual in New Zealand.Reyrolle PAcific Board records - History of Reyrolle Pacific Swicthgear, 7 - 17 Bouverie Street, Petone, Lower Hutt This included the switchgear factory in Petone, with a staff of about 100.WEB,weblink RPS Switchgear Home, Rpsswitchgear.com, 6 May 2021, Reyrolle Pacific Switchgear became RPS Switchgear and manufactures retrofit breakers for the original LMT switchgear, and vacuum breakers and panels for 11 kV substations.

References

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Further reading

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• Arcs, Sparks & Engineers: A Centenary History of A. Reyrolle & Co. Ltd. (1901–2001), Alan Wright (ed.), Reyrolle Heritage Trust Press, 2001, {{ISBN|978-0-9538972-0-9}}
• The Reyrolle Story, Robert Owen, Write Good Books, 2007, {{ISBN|978-1-905295-07-4}}

{{Electricity generation in North East England}}{{Authority control}}