Jules Thorn (1899-1980) was born in Austria and emigrated to England in
the early 1920s. Over the ensuing 60 years he created a substantial
group of successful companies operating in the electronics sector. At
its peak, Thorn Electrical Industries was one of the UK's largest
electrical businesses, employing over 100,000 people, and including such
well-known names as Thorn Lighting, Ferguson Radio, Radio Rentals, DER,
Tricity and Kenwood.
In collaboration with Jules Thorn's grandchildren, Jim Lewis has written
this biography of 'a very private man'. His legacy lives on in the Jules
Thorn Charitable Trust: 'Knighted in 1964, Sir Jules was a noted
philanthropist, who created his charitable trust primarily to support
medical research. As a result of his endowment the Trust has been able
to commit many millions of pounds to a very wide range of charitable
causes'.