The company was widely known for installing the first electric lighting in Windsor Castle, Holyrood Palace and other prominent buildings.

[9] Founded in 1934 by businessman Thomas Noah Cole, the company was located in a former Vickers-Armstrong munitions factory in Erith, Kent.

Cole had made his fortune from his previous company Lissen Ltd., a manufacturer of radio kits, accessories and batteries, which he sold to Ever Ready in 1928.

[10] In April 1941, the Erith factory was almost completely destroyed by a German incendiary raid, forcing the company to relocate production to a former jute mill in Dundee, Scotland.

The company also produced an extensive range of electrical measuring instruments including voltmeters, ammeters and current transformers and, for a brief time at the beginning, made spark plugs.

During the Second World War, Crompton Parkinson produced large quantities of .303 rifle ammunition at its Guiseley and Doncaster factories[14] and also 9mm pistol cartridges.

During the 1930s, the company built a large factory at Guiseley near Leeds where most of its lamp and electric motor manufacturing was based.