MARCHI

Stanley R. Mullard founded the Mullard Radio Valve Company in London in 1920. He had already worked on electronic tubes, and the company was established to make valves just as British broadcasting was about to create much wider demand. Its first years included supplies for communications and the rapid growth of the receiver market. A Mullard valve from this period therefore belongs to a British factory with its own origin, before its integration into the Philips group.

Growth required capital and production capacity. In the mid-1920s Philips acquired half of Mullard's shares and completed the purchase in 1927. The relationship changed the corporate structure and encouraged exchanges of technology, yet Mullard remained a recognizable name on valves and in catalogues. The PM prefix on some historical types recalls the Philips-Mullard phase. The British brand is therefore not a simple synonym for Philips: it identifies a commercial and industrial line with its own chronology.

Production developed at Mitcham in Surrey and, from 1938, at Blackburn in Lancashire. Blackburn became one of Europe's most important valve centres and also brought together glass and fine-wire work needed for valve manufacture. Mullard later expanded into cathode-ray tubes and other electronic components. During the Second World War, the EF50 type, developed within the Philips sphere and also made in Britain, shows how close the technical relationship between the companies had become. To attribute an actual Mullard valve, one needs its logo, designation, period and any factory codes: the shared history with Philips does not erase the distinction between brand and plant.