Received by e-mail:
Strange person asking even stranger question. Do you know if Thorn-Benham are still in exsistance today? If so where? I am trying to get some information on Benham and Sons Limited which were bought by Thorn Electrical Industries in 1965 and am trying to locate them. Would appreciate any information that you may have. Thanks. A
My reply:
Well, it's a small world I guess, as my late father actually used to work for Thorn-Benham as a cost and quantity surveyor in the 1970s. He left in 1980, and I'm afraid that I no longer have any details of the company to hand, although I can tell you that the Benham's office where he worked was located on Wigmore Street in central London (it runs parallel to and just north of Oxford St.).
A quick Google search hasn't revealed anything useful, and a check on BT's directory service reveals no listing for Benham in London now, so maybe the company has been disbanded or changed its name since then. I know my father continued receiving a small pension and regular news updates from them until his death in 1989, but what has happened to the company in the last 15 years I can't say.
I'll post your query and my response in ECN's non-U.S. area, just in case one of our other U.K. members might have any information.
My father worked for this company for a good few years, costing out heating & ventilation projects, including one for Downing Street!
If anybody has any idea if Benham's still exist, or what became of this Thorn subsidiary, we'd both be interested to know.
