Thorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics, music, defence and retail.

Created when Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI in October 1979, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

The company was formed following the board of EMI accepting a £169 million offer from Thorn Electrical Industries in November 1979 to merge the groups.

[4][5][6][7] In November the same year, most of the group's other leisure interests including Blackpool Tower, amusement parks, sport centres, piers, restaurants, pubs, four theatres, including the Prince Edward Theatre, and the Empire Ballroom and Cinema in Leicester Square in London were sold to Trust House Forte for £16 million.

In 1991, its consulting, systems integration, and outsourcing service division – Thorn EMI Software, was a subject of a management buyout.

[13] Thorn EMI's wide range of business covered the following principal areas of activity; retail/rentals, electronics, defence, software, music, television broadcasting, lighting and film and cinema.

With its core business removed, Rumbelows sought a new identity as a more conventional (non-rental) retailer, even adding computers to the product mix.

[11] Thorn EMI was the majority shareholder in the London-based ITV broadcaster Thames Television until a share flotation in 1984.

In 1985, the company attempted to sell their stake in Thames to Carlton Communications but this was blocked by the governing body of ITV, the Independent Broadcasting Authority.

[23] In 1987, the purchase of the Jarnkonst group of Nordic light fitting companies by Thorn Lighting and closure of the Buckie lamp factory signalled a new drive by parent Thorn EMI to trade an export and 'colonies' mentality for a multi-cultural, international outlook, one that took account of the forthcoming Single European Act.

Under the agreement, GE acquired the lamp plants at Enfield, Leicester[24] and Wimbledon, as well as Thorn's 51% in SIVI Illuminazione in Italy and 100% holding in Gluhlampenfabrik Jahn.

Thorn EMI subsequently closed its Merthyr Tydfil lamp factory, consolidated its UK distribution centres and sold its South African business.

In the early to mid-1980s, Thorn EMI Video Programmes released a number of games for several home computer formats, initially under their own name.

These included Computer War, Tank Commander, Snooker and Billiards, 8-Ball and Tournament Pool, Darts, Cribbage and Dominoes (1981), Gold Rush, Mutant Herd, Road Racer, Volcanic Planet (1983), and River Rescue (1982).

In 1991, its consulting, systems integration, and outsourcing service division – Thorn EMI Software, was a subject of a management buyout[11][12] and started to trade as a separate company named "Data Sciences Ltd".

However, the fire products are still present in many premises, and until recently spares and complete systems of Thorn heritage continued to be manufactured by ADT.

After Thorn's demerger, this division started operating as Quadriga[26] This small subsidiary further developed existing products, as well as introducing new ones.

The newly merged company continued the film interests EMI had acquired over the preceding decade; these had included the former Associated British Picture Corporation, and their facilities at Elstree Studios, Shenley Road, Borehamwood and ABC Cinemas.