Pluto Electronics. The History

The company name came about, the three of them, discussing the problem over a pub lunch. Name after name was rejected until one of them said, Oh! We might just as well call it the Mickey Mouse Company, where upon someone else answered, or Pluto. So the Disney dog became the God of the Underworld became the new company name.

From initial capital of £800.00, fifty 100-watt tungsten Czechoslovak projectors were purchased, converted to take a six-inch oil wheel, which was purchased from Optikinetics, and the lot sold to Proops Brothers in the Tottenham Court Road. The money banked and more projectors bought.

That was 1972. Soon a vacant premises almost opposite Rick’s house was rented. It consisted of three floors. Initially only the first floor was used as a workshop and office. Micky Thompson moved with his young family from Ladbroke Grove into the top flat, and later a small metal working company was moved into the ground floor fabricating the necessary piece parts for the projectors.

This sounded very good at the time but in retrospect had hidden dangers.

The three directors held job interviews at the local employment exchange. By the end of the day the initial workforce had been employed, since only one husband wife team had taken up the offer to relocate from London.
Whereas Optikinetics predominantly targeted the professional discotheque industry, the Pluto market share was targeted at the general public who wanted a Saturday night party light show and the mobile disk jockeys who also needed a mobile light show.

Production started in the new premises in the late summer of 1976. Over the next few years, a metal working department was established, to fabricate the numerous piece parts required. This was followed by a powder coating, painting facility.

When in peak production Pluto Electronics employed, counting the office, assembly staff, metal working, painting, glass cutting and silkscreen printing departments, about 100 people.

Lightomation, another kinetic projector and strobe light company, also relocated from London, and by chance moved onto Walworth Industrial Estate, in Andover, the same estate as Pluto. When they experienced financial difficulties Pluto bought the company, adding the Lito products to the range.

I am not sure which of the mail order catalogues were approached first. It could have been Freemans. Whichever one it was, after the initial introduction of a projector and six-inch wheel, in the next catalogue issue, they wanted more and also other product.

Now, all the mail order catalogues monitor each other closely. Once one catalogue has identified a successful line, they all want to include the product in their catalogue. This was terrific. All the mail order companies all calling and wanting to place orders. Littlewoods wanted changes to the product, which were made. Pluto was the only company, at the time, to have a whole page of the catalogue, filled with different disco lighting products.

Now, it is a well-known business fact that a company should not do a disproportionate percentage of their business with any one company. What was not realised was the shoaling effect of the different mail order companies. So when the recession of the early eighties hit, and on a tight budget, the last thing people needed was a Saturday night party projector, all the different mail order companies, acted as one, and all either cancelled orders, or did not reorder.

This market sector was too large a percentage of turnover and Pluto went into receivership.

So came to a close an era.

Richard Millington, after a short while, went on to form a lighting company manufacturing lighting, which is still trading today, for the illumination of retail chain stores. Richard now lives in South West France. Micky Thompson joined him for a twelve-year period, and is now a freelancer marketer. John Straker, who joined as a director from Hanimex, also lives in, but a different part of, South West France. The memory lives on.