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| Industry | Domestic appliance rentals |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1930 in Brighton, Sussex, UK |
| Founder | Percy Perring-Thoms |
| Defunct | 2000 |
| Fate | Merged with Granada Limited |
Radio Rentals was founded in 1930[1] by Percy Perring-Thoms in Brighton, Sussex, UK, to rent out radio sets, with a turnover in the first year of £780 (equivalent to £62,288 in 2023). It later offered televisions and videorecorders for rent.
In 1964 it merged with RentaSet, Joseph Robinson's similarly formed company.[1] Then, in 1968, it was acquired by Thorn Electrical Industries and joined with Thorn's DER chain (founded 1938) as part of Thorn Television Rentals (TTR), though the two companies were run completely separately, with different staff and vehicles.
Two other, smaller High Street TV rental companies were also acquired/established by the Thorn Television Rentals group: these being Multi-Broadcast and the even smaller company Vistavison (not to be confused with Visionhire). Very little is known today about these two rental companies: in the 1970s they were well-known names on the British High Street but have long since vanished along with Radio Rentals.
The last Baird TV models that were supplied by Radio Rentals to contain a genuine Baird (rather than a Thorn)-manufactured chassis was the dual-standard (405 and 625-line) 710 series. Legend has it that in the 1970s, Radio Rentals was the only TV rental company under the TTR umbrella who were allowed to produce full (from floor to waist) height cabinets on castors. The other companies had to use more squat cabinets placed on stands.
In 1980 TTR and thus Radio Rentals became part of the merged Thorn EMI, and in 2000 it merged with Granada Limited to form Boxclever. The company still trades as Radio Rentals in Australia.