W. Lucy & Co.

W. Lucy & Co. Ltd
Private
Industry Electrical engineering, Metal Castings, Street Lighting controls and Property
Founded Circa 1812, incorporated 1897
Headquarters Oxford, UK
Products

Medium voltage electrical switchgear, Electrical Connectors & Disconnectors, Isolators, Pillars, Street Lighting Controls, Traffic Lighting and controls, Aluminium, Iron and Copper castings, Property Ownership Development and Management

revenue = £161 million GBP (2014)
Number of employees
 1,200
Website

W. Lucy & Co. Ltd is a privately owned international Group headquartered in Oxford. The Company’s origins date back more than 200 years when its principal business was manufacturing metal castings. Since then the business has evolved and steadily expanded into a group comprising four distinct business units. The Group operates in 8 countries, from 16 locations, employing over 1200 people.

History

The company’s traceable origins date back to 1812 when William Carter opened an ironmongery business in Oxford (although some sources date the business as far back as 1760). Carter began brass and iron foundry operations in Summertown, Oxford in 1821, which he expanded into the Jericho district of Oxford in 1825, building a large factory next to the strategically important Oxford to Birmingham canal. In its early days the company manufactured agricultural machinery and ornamental ironwork such as balconies and railings. William Lucy, whose name the company carries, became involved with the company around 1854 at a young age. He died in 1873, aged just thirty-five. The mainstay of Lucy’s business shifted focus in the late 1800s, as it became a key supplier of bookshelves and document storage systems to government offices, universities, museums and libraries, following the introduction of its patented ‘rolling stack’ system of shelving. The emerging electricity industry then presented a new opportunity around the turn of the 20th century. In 1905 John Reid Dick, a businessman and qualified electrical engineer, was headhunted to join the business as Managing Director and the company began winning contracts in the electrical industry for street lighting posts, feeder pillars and fuse boxes. Expansion in this market continued and between the two world wars the company cemented its reputation as a switchgear and electrical engineering firm, although the foundry played a complementary part, continuing to supply castings and other products to established markets. Switchgear and components used in secondary power distribution such as ring main units, remain a significant revenue stream more than 100 years on. The Company expanded its focus to include overseas markets in the late 1960s and began selling products into the Middle East market, which remains a key destination of Lucy Electric products and services. Lucy Group now comprises a diversified portfolio of four distinct business units: Lucy Electric, Lucy Castings, Lucy Zodion, and Lucy Real Estate.

Headquarters

Lucy Group’s corporate headquarters are based on the company’s historic former factory site at Eagle Works, in Jericho, Oxford.

Business

The Company has four distinct business units: Lucy Electric, manufacturer of electrical switchgear solutions; Lucy Zodion, manufacturer of specialist energy efficient street lighting and control products; Lucy Castings, an aluminium, iron and copper castings manufacturer; and Lucy Real Estate, a residential property development and rental business centred on the Oxford area. In 2014, Group turnover was £160.9m with profit before tax of £16.8m.

Management & Ownership

The Board of the Group’s parent company W Lucy & Co. Ltd, has been chaired by Richard Dick since 1990. The Board is served by a further two executive and three non-executive directors. The Company’s shares are not quoted on any stock market and remain largely under the ownership of descendants of the Dick and Madgen families, who took control of the Company in 1905.

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