Bulpitt & Sons

Bulpitt & Sons Ltd was an electrical goods manufacturer and limited company in Birmingham, England, established as a brass founder in the late 19th century.[1]

In the early 20th century the company registered The "Swan Brand" name.[1]

In the 1920s, the company began manufacturing domestic electrical appliances including kettles and irons.[1] The firm developed the first submersible electric heating element.[1] An early example of a Swan brand copper kettle featuring the immersed heating element is in the collection of the Science Museum Group.[2]

In the 1970s, the company became a subsidiary of BSR (Housewares) Ltd., originally Birmingham Sound Reproducers, manufacturers of turntables for playing records.[1]

The rival French company Moulinex acquired the Swan brand in 1988[1] and Bulpitt & Sons (Swan Brand) Ltd was eventually dissolved on 21 May 1989, just short of a century after the company's foundation.[1] The Swan brand was acquired by Littlewoods in 2000. In 2017, the brand was bought by Swan Products Ltd[3] and since 2023 has been owned by Sutton Venture Group, operating under that company's RKW trading division.[4]

The firm's kitchenware factory and offices at St George's Works on Icknield Street, Camden Street and Pope Street at the edge of Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter dated back to 1890.[5] Some manufacturing at the site continued until 2006.[1] Property developers began stripping the interior in 2009, in preparation for conversion to office accommodation.[6] Subsequently, the building, renamed The Kettleworks was converted into residential apartments and commercial units, completed in 2019.[7][8]

See also

• Teasmade

External links