C. A. Parsons and Company

C. A. Parsons and Company

Company type	Private (historical)
Industry	Engineering, Manufacturing
Founded	1889 (1889)
Founder	Charles Algernon Parsons
Defunct	1997 (1997)
Fate	Merged into Northern Engineering Industries; later acquired by Rolls-Royce and then Siemens Energy
Successor	Reyrolle Parsons (1968), Northern Engineering Industries (1977)
Headquarters	Newcastle upon Tyne , England, United Kingdom
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Charles Algernon Parsons (founder), Algernon George "Tommy" Parsons, Rachel Mary Parsons, Sir Claude Gibb, James Woodeson
Products	Steam turbines, engineering equipment, nuclear power station turbines
Owner	Siemens Energy (current)
Number of employees	7,000+ (1960s) (1960s)
Parent	Siemens Energy (current)

C. A. Parsons and Company was a prominent British engineering enterprise and a significant source of employment in the Tyneside region. In 1968, it combined with A. Reyrolle & Company to form Reyrolle Parsons, later joining forces with Clarke Chapman in 1977 to establish Northern Engineering Industries. The firm was subsequently purchased by Rolls-Royce in 1989. Presently, it operates as part of Siemens Energy.

History

The company was established in 1889 by Charles Algernon Parsons with the purpose of manufacturing his steam turbine invention. By the early 1900s, its Heaton facility in Newcastle upon Tyne was producing as many as 50 turbines annually.

Algernon George "Tommy" Parsons, son of Charles Algernon Parsons, initially served as a director but was succeeded during the First World War by his sister, Rachel Mary Parsons, among the earliest women to earn an engineering degree from University of Cambridge. During this period, the Shields Road factory employed a large number of female workers. Rachel Parsons resigned after her brother's passing.

Between 1894 and 1923, Parsons secured patents for searchlight mirrors. Sir Claude Gibb joined the company in the 1920s and rose to the positions of chairman and managing director by the 1940s.

Throughout the Second World War, the company contributed to wartime manufacturing efforts by producing engineering equipment. From 1945 to 1960, it experienced significant growth, tripling its size and expanding its facilities at Heaton, Walkergate, and Longbenton. The original workshop established in 1889 was replaced by a six-story office building in 1951. By the 1960s, the workforce at the factory site exceeded 7,000 employees.

In April 1959, Parsons launched a Nuclear Research Centre at Heaton to aid the development of nuclear power stations within the UK. The centre's research areas broadened to include masers, magnetoplasmadynamics, superconductivity, and solid-state physics. Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, it was rebranded as the International Research and Development Company Ltd in December 1962, serving both industrial and governmental clients worldwide.

Steam turbines manufactured by Parsons were utilized in nuclear power plants such as Bradwell, Calder Hall, Dungeness, Heysham 2, and Oldbury in England, along with Chapelcross and Hunterston in Scotland.

During the 1960s, Parsons expanded its turbine and generator production capabilities by acquiring factories from the General Electric Company located at Erith and Witton. The merger with A. Reyrolle & Company resulted in the formation of Reyrolle Parsons in 1968.

Following the appointment of James Woodeson as chairman in 1974, Reyrolle Parsons merged with Clarke Chapman to create Northern Engineering Industries in 1977. Rolls-Royce took over Northern Engineering Industries in 1989.

Currently integrated into Siemens Energy after Siemens acquired these operations from Rolls-Royce in 1997, the Heaton facility was renamed CA Parsons Works to honor its founder. In the early 21st century, manufacturing activities at Heaton were reduced to prioritize maintenance services while production shifted to plants located in Mülheim and Budapest.

Preserved turbines

Parsons turbines are displayed in several notable museums around the globe, such as the Discovery Museum located in Newcastle, London's Science Museum, and the Electric Power and Historical Museum situated in Yokohama, Japan.

See also

• Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company
• Grubb Parsons
• Mechanical Engineering Heritage (Japan) No. 4: The Parsons Steam Turbine, manufactured under license by Mitsubishi-Japan since 1904, with the 1908 model highlighted.