1943 - established to manufacture gyro switches for use by the Admiralty;

1953 - manufactured adjustable thermometers, mercury relays and mini-dry contact relays and supplied Military customers and expanded product range to include electrolytic sensors and sub-miniature lamps for the aerospace industry;

1986 - acquired by Polaron Engineering Ltd but company continues to trade under the original name;

1987 - Polaron Engineering Ltd acquire Mercury Switch Manufacturing (MSM); Engel & Gibbs take over the manufacturing of metal can sensors and mercury switches used in a wide range of installations from heart pacemakers to Underground trains.

1989 - Polaron acquires Special Lamps Division of General Electric Company (GEC); Polaron Special Lamps was formed and becomes a division of Engel & Gibbs, offering a range of secondary standards for radiation of photometric measurem ents.

1993 - The Polaron Group acquired Nelco and renamed as Nelco Systems Ltd

1997 - Nelco design brushless motor and drive system for high velocity machining applications;

2001 - Polaron reorganised business units into Components and Systems divisions; The Polaron Components Group was formed via a merger of Engel & Gibbs and Nelco's commutator and motor products;

2003 - Polaron Components Ltd formed; become a Cooper Controls Company, based at 26 Greenhill Crescent, Watford Business Park, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD18 8XG, UK