Grace's Guide To British Industrial History

Registered UK Charity (No. 115342)

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 167,382 pages of information and 246,819 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 147,919 pages of information and 233,587 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

John Stanley (1925-1985)

From Graces Guide

1925 Born son of Charles Orr Stanley

Educated at Stowe and King's College, Cambridge

1950 Joined Pye Group

Became MD of Pye Telecommunications

Successfully campaigned to end "The Ring" of 3 manufacturers who provided the Post Office with its telecommunications equipment.

1957 Established Telephone Answering Services Ltd

1960 Obtained a licence to set up a commercial radio service in the Isle of Man, taking advantage of its unique legal position.

1962 Persuaded television manufacturers to switch from 405 lines to 625 lines and started to campaign for the release of the associated transmission frequencies for other radio communication uses, a campaign which took many years to come to fruition.

1966 Ousted from the Board of Pye after a dispute about connections of the group with the television rentals business, believing the Pye should enter the retail market.

Air Call was the first to acquire licences to operate both radio and telephone and paging services, previously areas of monopoly of the Post Office.

Having long argued for introducing new technologies into the phone services, he was disappointed when Air Call did not win one of the new cellular phone service licences.

1985 Died

See Also

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Sources of Information


  • The Times Oct. 24, 1985