Young Eric Kirkham Cole and his girlfriend,
the future Mrs.Cole, built radio sets. In 1924, because of interruptions
to charge somebody's accumulator or to fix a customer's radio
they only averaged half a dozen sets a week. These were the first
"Ekco Receiving Sets". One day a freelance journalist,
Bill Verrells, who had been looking for something to interest
readers in a local paper for which he wrote articles, chose the
subject of using the mains to power radio sets rather than the
cumbersome accumulator and HT battery. Eric had also been contemplating
such a device and he contacted Bill Verrell, and soon, after further
development work, and advertising a suitable device, the pair
started an enterprise making and selling their new "Battery
Eliminator".
Several different models were
sold as some customers had DC mains and others, the more 
modern,
AC mains. If one looks at articles written in those days, ideas
were not lacking in using mains voltage for things other than
lighting. DC mains battery chargers often consisted of nothing
more complicated than a suitable light bulb connected in series
with the battery. Mains voltages varied from less than 100 to
more than 200 and charts were available for determining the right
wattage bulb, the right type (i.e. carbon or tungsten filament)
versus the voltage of your supply. No doubt there were lots of
puzzled faces when such a technique was attempted with AC mains!
Anyway, business boomed and many local people who were visited
bought an eliminator. Because valves had directly heated filaments
it wasn't easy to eliminate the accumulator in areas with AC mains.
And so because of technical shortcomings in cheap, low-ripple,
low voltage rectification, the new AC eliminators catered for
HT battery replacement only.
Front of an Instruction Booklet and an advertisement both produced in 1931
See some examples of mains eliminators in the Radio Museum
As business was now so good, by mid 1926
Cole had ditched not only repair work but also his long-standing
accumulator charging service.
Once valves with indirectly heated filaments appeared things changed
dramatically. Now AC mains could be used as a source for heating
the valves, and as more and more districts switched from DC to
AC mains and sets started to appear with built-in power supplies,
the battery eliminator business started to suffer.
In 1927 with funding from local businessmen, a new factory had
been built at Leigh-on-Sea, to produce eliminators, and as Ekco
turned to radio set production, they expanded, first to premises
owned by their various directors and then in 1930, to a very big
new factory at Southend-on-Sea.
Business continued to expand at a phenomenal rate and soon their
staff had grown from 50 to 1000. In 1930, just as they had been
getting into gear, a new material called "Bakelite"
had appeared on the scene. AEG were hawking the stuff around in
an attempt to get orders to feed their new plant in Berlin and
Ekco immediately seeing the advantages of using the new material
for their cabinets quickly placed an order.
Unfortunately the Government, perhaps under pressure from lobbyists
representing other radio companies, placed a huge import levy
on the import of Bakelite cabinets and such was the competitiveness
of the industry, that Ekco were forced to build a new plant, equipped
with giant presses, for making their own.
Ekco were flying high in their flourishing new pemises and lots of orders when suddenly, in 1932, a fire destroyed their R&D labs. Designs for the 1933 range were lost and the models cobbled together for that year didn't sell too well putting the company into dire straits. By risking all and borrowing a lot of money Cole and Verrell kept the firm afloat and by the end of 1933, helped by the appeal of new stylish Bakelite cases, regained their previous position in the marketplace.
The company did well up to outbreak of
war when, after moving to Aylesbury, and a number of smaller sites,
to get away from the vulnerable Southend factory, started making
military radio and radar equipment. Amongst the new sets were
such famous names as the R1155/T1154 produced for Lancaster bombers,
the 19 set for tanks, and the Type 46 Walkie Talkie used by the
Infantry.
Like taking an umbrella with one to keep rain away, the deserted
factory at Southend had escaped unscathed during the heavy bombing
during the Battle of Britain and a year after it had been abandoned
the Government ordered it to be re-equipped whereupon it re-entered
business making wiring harnesses for bombers and a range of bakelite
fittings to support the war industry. Because of the speed of
change, the number of factories, and volume of business, Ekco's
management were floundering. Difficulty working out arrangements
for co-ordinating their activities, costing and financial control
was taking too much effort and was damaging the business. However
with a concerted effort and novel techniques, not only did Ekco
succeed to overcome their problems, but they opened further new
factories in Preston and in Scotland and became a model for other
companies engaged in War Production. A key element to their business
was valve production, which now included lamps and special types
for radar sets. This had continued during the upheavals at a small
factory in Southend and later expanded into their new Preston
factory.
After the war Ekco not only made radios and TV receivers in large
numbers but, using their new found expertise, produced electronic
equipment for the non-domestic market.
In the mid 50's mergers were commonplace and Ekco, not to be left
out, had bought the Ferranti brand name and the Dynatron business,
a name signifying quality.
In 1973 when most of the household names including Ekco had been
absorbed into conglomerates, Ekco TV sets used The Pye "697"
Chassis. In the same year, limited radio production with the Ekco
badge included an FM only stereo receiver. 1975 brought yet another
Pye offering in the shape of the "731" Chassis, and
their radio, although having a different model number to its stablemates
was really a Pye in disguise. By the end of the decade, because
of business and marketing pressures, manufacturers had dropped
most of the old names from the 30's although some marques such
as Bush and Alba have survived albeit to be manufactured in places
like Turkey or the far east.