Roberts Radio : Company history page 7

titles - Company history

Transition To Transistors

Portable radios made great strides in the 1950s, mainly but not exclusively due to the advent of the transistor. Early in the decade, ferrite-rod aerials had allowed the size of valve receivers to be further reduced without sacrificing electrical performance, so that Roberts Radio's R66 mains/battery model, introduced in 1956, was as small as was deemed compatible with good sound quality. And although the explosive growth in television viewing took away radio's evening audience, greatly reducing the market for full-size receivers, portables were ideally adapted to radio's residual but expanding role as a provider of "background" entertainment.

The Roberts RT1 released in April 1958. was not Britain's first transistor portable, but its pedigree ensured that it was awaited with interest within the trade, whilst its launch was of crucial importance to the Company, for sales of valve receivers were already declining. Would the RT1 live up to Roberts Radio's reputation? The highly-respected John Gilbert, writing in tile Musk-Trades Review, had no doubts.
This set continues the long line of outstanding receivers from this manufacturer: who holds a unique position in the radio industry. One is tempted In consider how such a receiver could he improved, or what will be the design to follow this one.

In first-generation transistor receivers battery economy was a prime selling point, and the Roberts engineers exploited this to the full by fitting the massive Ever Ready PP8. With average use this lasted at least two years, and a number of sets returned as faulty four or five years after purchase were found merely to need replacement of the original battery. Less output power was available from transistors than from valves, so to maintain adequate volume without distortion the RT1 was given a loudspeaker having the unusually high density of 13.000 Gauss.

Strictly speaking, Roberts Radio's first transistor model was not the RT1, but a "personal" receiver accepted by H.M. The Queen in March 1958 as a gift from the Radio Industry Council, who had commissioned the Company to design and make it. The set was carefully designed to achieve the best performance attainable for its size, and Leslie Bidmead spent many hours fashioning for it a casing that would be worthy of the occasion. This remained an isolated venture, however; Harry Roberts judged that because of the inherent limitations of personal radios there would be little demand for high-quality models.

Early in 1960, the Company was re-organised, and its two present Directors joined Harry Roberts and Leslie Bidmead on the Board. Harry's son Richard was to handle marketing and sales, while Geoffrey Dixon-Nuttall, who had joined the Company in 1948. was to take charge of production.The Company had grown considerably since moving to the Creek Road boathouse in 1941, and although neighbouring premises had been added during and just after the war the resulting complex of five units with a major road running through it was an obstacle to efficient production, let alone further expansion. There was no area large enough for a conveyor-belt assembly line, hand-trucks were constantly having to be taken across the road, and some operations had to be contracted out. Inevitably, the factory's presence in a shopping and residential area marred the environment and aggravated traffic congestion. It was clearly time for another move. The company was already authorised by the Board of Trade to remain in the London area, but the Directors were determined to retain their key personnel and their network of local suppliers, and chose a site on a new industrial estate within two miles of Creek Road. When their application to the local council for planning permission was rejected, they instructed a leading barrister, Mr. J. Ramsay Willis. QC, to prepare the submission for an appeal.

The Council was spared no detail, from the embarrassing location of the ladies toilets at Creek Road to the necessity of retaining a 23-year-old service engineer who had been with the Company only a year but had taken two years to find. Providing additional jobs in the area was evidently not encouraged, for though the area of the new factory was to be more than twice that of the old. it was stressed that the work force, currently numbering 57, would only be increased by fifteen. The Company's forceful presentation of its case carried the day, and the building of the new factory in Molesey Avenue, West Molesey, went ahead. The move was made in April 1962, ownership of Creek Road being retained. After thirty years, Harry Roberts at last had a custom-built factory, and one of which he could justifiably be proud.

In 1967 Roberts Radio collaborated with Milliard Limited to pioneer a radical advance. Mullards had developed a linear integrated-circuit. the TAD100, which incorporated eleven transistors and was designed to perform all the active functions of an a.m. receiver except that of power output stage. Anxious to see it exploited commercially, they approached Roberts Radio. The Company had not lost its appetite for the challenging assignment, and set to work building a suitable receiver, which was launched in 1968 and designated RIC1. It looked no different from contemporary models using discrete components, but its novelty was effectively publicised by providing dealers with cards bearing reject specimens of the TAD100 microchip. The RIC1 was a good performer competitively priced, and the Company's readiness to experiment was rewarded with a production run of 77,967. By encasing receivers in exotic materials, the company projected the portable radio as a glamorous accessory.

Sadly, this was to be Harry Roberts's last venture. For some years he had suffered heart trouble, and on 14 June 1969 he died, aged 59. His personal standing within the industry was out of all proportion to the size of his company, and the family was deluged with letters that were studded with phrases betokening genuine regard: "one of the gentlemen of the Radio trade...";"...genial manner, fair dealing and a man of his word"...; "...tolerant and understanding..."; "You bear a proud name." But perhaps the most telling sentiment was that expressed in one of the letters from family friends: "Harry had that lovely gift of making one feel nicer than one really was, just for being with him!"