Rank Electronic Tubes

In 1964 Rank Cintel’s Television Division transferred to Rank Bush Murphy at Welwyn Garden City and the rest of the Instrument Division was absorbed into Rank Pullin Controls. The Electronic Tubes Division was incorporated into Rank Audio Visual a group within Rank Precision Industries and all CRT business was consolidated at Sidcup in 1965 as Rank Electronic Tubes Co. Ltd (RET). Rank Cintel continued with the production of telecine equipment with which it is still associated.

RET prospered with the supply of high performance tubes to both Elliotts and Smiths for aircraft Head Up and Head Down Displays. In 1966 RET acquired Watkins-Johnson, A US CRT manufacturer, and also EMI CRT. 

A facility at Middleton in Manchester was established in 1979 and ten years later Sidcup was closed and all design manufacture and testing moved to Middleton. In 1986 RET acquired Thorn EMI Brimar and the company was renamed Rank Brimar Ltd.

In 1996 Rank Precision Industries sold Rank Brimar together with sister companies Rank Taylor Hobson and Rank Cintel to a management buy-in (MBI) team. Finally in 1997 two new companies Brimar Ltd and Cintel Ltd were sold as a Management Buy Out process under a holding company called Image Precision International Ltd. 

Brimar finally fell into administration in November 2012, blaming the economic climate and difficult trading conditions. However in 2013 Dermot Power, BDO business restructuring partner and joint administrator of Brimar, announced that they had completed the sale of the business of Brimar Limited, with a sale of the vision system display business to Image Precision Limited on 3 May 2013 and the Cathode Ray Tube and Long Range Thermal Imaging business to BAE Display Technologies Limited.