Major Electrical Engineering Companies in Stafford

Stafford developed into a world-renowned centre for electrical engineering throughout the twentieth century, attracting a succession of industrial giants that became the town's largest employers. From the arrival of Siemens in the early 1900s to the establishment of the English Electric Company, GEC, Alstom, and General Electric, these firms shaped Stafford's economy, infrastructure, and workforce through the design and manufacture of heavy power plant, transformers, switchgear, and high-voltage transmission systems.

Siemens Brothers Dynamo Works

The town’s modern engineering history began in 1901 when Siemens Brothers Dynamo Works chose a greenfield site off Lichfield Road to build a vast manufacturing plant. Opening in 1903, the works produced heavy electrical plant, railway motors, dynamos, and generators. Siemens built housing estates for its workers, fundamentally changing the demographic and industrial landscape of Stafford until the onset of World War I led to government control and the eventual sale of the company's British assets.

English Electric Company

Formed in 1918, the English Electric Company acquired the Siemens site in Stafford, marking the start of a dominant fifty-year period as the town's principal employer. At its peak, the Lichfield Road site employed over 10,000 people. The works specialised in large power transformers, high-voltage switchgear, electric traction systems for railways, and steam turbine generators. English Electric also established the Nelson Research Laboratories in Stafford, making the town a centre for cutting-edge materials science and electrical research.

General Electric Company (GEC)

In 1968, the General Electric Company (GEC), led by Arnold Weinstock, took over English Electric. The operations in Stafford were incorporated into GEC Power Engineering. During this period, the Stafford facilities continued to dominate global export markets for power generation and transmission equipment. GEC modernised the sites, expanding developments at the St. Leonards works and continuing high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission research.

GEC Alsthom and Alstom

In 1989, GEC merged its power systems division with the French conglomerate Compagnie Générale d’Électricité to create GEC Alsthom. By 1998, the joint venture was floated as an independent entity named Alstom. Alstom remained a vital local employer, focusing heavily on transmission and distribution (T&D) systems, grid power electronics, and high-voltage transformers. While parts of the operations were briefly transferred to Areva T&D between 2004 and 2010, the businesses returned to Alstom and maintained their central operational presence in the town.

GE Grid Solutions

In 2015, the American multinational General Electric (GE) acquired Alstom's energy and power grid businesses in a major global transaction. Operating under divisions such as GE Grid Solutions and GE Vernova, the company concentrated its advanced HVDC and high-voltage substation operations in Stafford. Investment in the Redhill Business Park established state-of-the-art manufacturing and testing facilities, ensuring that heavy electrical engineering remains a core high-tech industry and major employment source in Stafford today.