[2] The company's origins date back more than 200 years when its principal business was manufacturing metal castings.
[3] In 1905, John Reid Dick, a businessman and qualified electrical engineer, was headhunted to join the business as managing director and the company began winning contracts in the electrical industry for street lighting posts, feeder pillars and fuse boxes.
Switchgear and components used in secondary power distribution such as ring main units, remain a significant revenue stream more than 100 years on.
On the technical side, with the recruitment of two switchgear design engineers in 1966 through to launch in 1970, Gordon Dick oversaw the development of the oil-insulated Lucy Ring Main Unit; for thirty years this was the company’s ‘flagship’ and most profitable product.
From 1969 to 1980, the board was unchanged: Nicholson and Gowers non-executive, Holland managing director and Gordon Dick chairman.
Unfortunately the recession that was to do so much damage to British manufacturing industry in the early 1990s meant that business was turning down for the foundry’s trade customers.
Close cooperation with Crompton Greaves continued, and Lucy’s had high expectations for this venture in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets.
In 2003 it was announced that Lucy Electric would move to Thame; by 2005, it was installed there, and Eagle Works was cleared for redevelopment.
The investment was part of its strategy of acquiring complementary businesses to deliver continued sustainable growth.
[6] Lucy Group's corporate headquarters are on the company's historic former factory site at Eagle Works, in Jericho, Oxford.
Through industrial partners and contractors, Lucy Electric has an established international network and a local track record in over 50 countries.
Castle Mill formed the beginning of Lucy Real Estates' influence on property and development in the Oxford area.
Real Estate has worked on a range of projects over the years; Brown Field Development, Walton Meadow, and Wharf Mews to name a few.