Harry
Roberts was born on May 20th 1910 in Mile End. He left school at 14 and
went to work for Rees Mace manufacturing in Cannon St who manufactured
wireless sets. In 1925 Harry moved on to Pell Cahill & Co who
manufactured portable radios under the “Pelican” name. Harry was
repairing and adjusting radios.
Roberts Radio was founded in 1932 by Harry
Roberts and Leslie Bidmead in Hills Place, near Oxford Circus in
London. By 1935 Roberts Radio was producing an average of 8 radios
a week. These radios were of the suitcase design with a loudspeaker and
frame aerial in the lid.
In 1937 Roberts Radio launched
the M4Q which was a complete change in design. As well as
taking up less table space than the suitcase models it was also cheaper
to construct bringing the average price down from 11gns to 9gns. On April
23rd 1937 Roberts Radio became a private Limited Company.
It was during December 1940 that Harry Roberts got a phone call from his
contact in Harrods informing him that Her Majesty the Queen had
purchased a Roberts Radio for her personal use; this was in fact the
second Roberts radio she had purchased, the first one was a present for
Princess Elizabeth.
In 1941 the company moved to Creek Road
East Molesey in Surrey as London had became a hazardous place due
to the bombing.
