Birmingham Sound Reproducers
of Claremont Street, Old Hill, Staffs. Telephone: Cradley Heath 6212-3. Cables: "Electronic, Old Hill". London and Export Office: 115 Gower Street, WC1. Telephone: Euston 7515. (1947)
1932 Private company established by Dr D M McDonald to make electronic equipment and manufacture record changer mechanisms.
1947 Manufacturers of High Quality Sound Reproducing apparatus, Inter-office Communication Sets, Sound Recording Instruments, Low Frequency Oscillators, Laboratory Test Equipment, Factory Staff Location. (Olympia, Ground Floor, Stand No. C.1517) [1]
1957 Became public company.
1961 Manufacturers of automatic record changers, gramophone pick-ups and tape decks. 2,600 employees. [2]
1970 Dr McDonald sold a large amount of his shares to the public; name of the company was BSR Ltd[3]
1971 BSR acquired Bulpitt and Sons[4]. Known as BSR Housewares, Swan Housewares became a subsidiary.
1973 BSR Housewares bought Goblin (BVC)[5].
1977 Acquired Judge International, a pots and pans manufacturer[6]
1984 Pifco agreed to acquire Swan Housewares from BSR International[7] but later the deal collapsed[8]
The company moved to Hong Kong
1989 Moulinex bought Swan Housewares from BSR[9]
1989 In return for acquiring 5 business from Emerson Electric of USA, Emerson took a 45 percent stake in the company; the business was re-focussed on making power supplies for electronic equipment; the name was changed to Astec (BSR)[10]