| Industry | Electrical accessories |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Basildon,Essex, |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Website | www |
MK Electric is a company that makeselectrical accessories. The company's headquarters are inBasildon,Essex,England, from where it sells goods worldwide.
In 1912 Charles Arnold and Charles Belling formedBelling and Company making electric fires. Following his release from the army in 1919 Charles Arnold founded 'The Heavy Current Electrical Accessories Company' with Charles Belling as a shareholder. This was later renamedMK Electric.[1] The company developed electrical equipment such as high rated switches and sockets. A portrait of Charles Arnold byMay Bridges Lee is held by theUniversity of Bristol.[2]
One product, the Multy Kontact spring grip socket (3-pin plug), soon became a market leader and theBritish Engineering Standards Association (BESA) changed standards to adopt this new product. By 1923 demand for these new products was growing rapidly and new production facilities were built inEdmonton, Middlesex. The company was then renamedMK Electric after its flagship product.[3]
In 1928 the first shuttered socket was produced which concealed the live and neutral contacts when the plug is pulled out of the socket.
DuringWorld War II, production at the Edmonton factory focused onmunitions to help the war effort, but development work resumed in 1945. In the 1950s MK Electric produced a light switch design which is still used today.
In 1966 the company floated on the stock exchange and becameMK Electric Holding Company Ltd. The company later became a subsidiary ofHoneywell International in 2005 when its parent companyNovar plc was acquired. Its factory inSouthend-on-Sea produced its one hundred millionth socket in 2014.[4]
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