John C. Taylor (inventor)

John C. Taylor (inventor)

Infobox Person
name = John C. Taylor


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nationality = British
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citizenship = British
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known_for = Development of thermostatic controls Construction of the Corpus Clock
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alma_mater = Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
employer = Strix Ltd (Retired)
occupation = British inventor, entrepreneur, horologist and philanthropist
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John C. Taylor MA FIPACitation |url=http://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/fellowship/directory.php?contid=271 |title=John Taylor in the Directory of Fellows of Corpus Christi College |accessdate=2008-09-21] is a British inventor, entrepreneur, horologist and philanthropist best known for his extensive research into electric kettles.

Career

John Taylor was educated at King William's College on the Isle of ManCitation |url=http://www.gov.im/lib/docs/mea/general/annualReport02.PDF|title=Annual Report 2001-2002|publisher=Manx Electric Authority |accessdate=2008-09-21] and studied engineering at Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge from 1956 to 1959. [Citation |last=Taylor |first=John |title= The Corpus Clock |newspaper=The Pelican, Corpus Christi College alumni magazine |issue= Easter Term edition |pages= 20–21] After graduating in 1959, he joined his father Eric Taylor's company Otter Controls as a Graduate Trainee, and it is said that he "soon revealed himself to have inherited his father's inventive genius".Citation |first=M.L. |last=Cohen |url=http://www.answers.com/topic/strix-ltd |title=Company History: Strix Ltd. |accessdate=2008-09-21]

When Eric Taylor died in 1971, his son took over as chairman of Otter Controls. He focussed on the business of Castletown Thermostats, a subsidiary of Otter Controls, and in 1979 he split Castletown Thermostats and Otter Controls into two independent companies, with Taylor becoming chairman of Castletown.Citation |url=http://www.strix.com/about_history.htm|title=History of Strix|publisher=Strix Ltd|accessdate=2008-09-21] Two years later, Castletown Thermostats changed its name to Strix Ltd, and in 1984, Edwin Davies was appointed as Chief Executive, with Taylor remaining chairman.

Castletown Thermostats had started by making bimetallic thermostats for use in various industries. In the 1960s, the market for electric kettles was growing, and Castletown extended its manufacturing plant to produce and test a new device for controlling kettles. During the 20 years from 1979 until 1999 in which Taylor and Davies led Strix, the company developed several successful product series, expanded worldwide,Citation |url=http://www.strix.com/history.htm |title=History of Strix|publisher=Strix Ltd|accessdate=2008-09-21] sold over 200 million thermostat controls for electric kettles, and received several Queen's Awards and other awards.

In 2001 Taylor received an Honorary Doctorate at UMIST and was made Visiting Professor of Innovation in recognition of over 150 patents in his own name. He was also elected Honorary Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

In 2000, in a bid to expand into the new growth market of coffee makers, Strix raised £50m of capital from HSBC Private Equity by selling 40% of its shares, valuing the company at £125m. This investment diluted Taylor's shareholding in Strix to 24%. [cite press release |url=http://www.montaguequity.com/news/?id=761 |title=HSBC Private Equity acquires a stake in Strix Group |publisher=Montagu Private Equity |accessdate=2008-09-21] In 2005, ABN AMRO Capital led a leveraged buyout of Strix; [cite press release | title = Strix LBO reaches boiling point | publisher = ABN AMRO Capital | date = 2005-04-22 | url = http://www.capital.abnamro.com/render.do?country=uk&doc=Strix220405&type=press_release | accessdate = 2008-09-21 ] the value of the transaction was not disclosed. Today, Strix employs 1000 people, holds over 600 patents, and turns over more than £100 million per year. Strix controls are incorporated into electric kettles from many leading manufacturers, and it is estimated that they are used over one billion times per day worldwide, by over 20% of the world's population.

Philanthropic activities

Since his retirement in 1999, Taylor has focussed on using his wealth to support educational institutions in the UK. His 'generous donation' enabled the creation of the STRIX Centre for Manufacturing at UMIST which opened in 2003. He has also been a very active benefactor of his former Cambridge college, Corpus Christi, by contributing £2.5m towards the construction of a new student library, the Taylor Library [Citation |url=http://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/develoffice/studentlibrary.htm|title=Taylor Library on Corpus Christi College website |accessdate=2008-09-21] as well as funding numerous undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships and bursaries. [Citation |url=http://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/postgrad/scholarships.htm |title=http://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/postgrad/scholarships.htm |publisher=Corpus Christi College admissions office |accessdate=2008-09-21] [Citation |url=http://www.yes-no-cancel.co.uk/2008/09/20/chronophage-and-john-taylor/ |first=M |last=Kleppmann |title=The Chronophage and a story about John Taylor |accessdate=2008-09-21] Citation |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7638259.stm |first=Lisa |last=Jardine |title=Inventing the basics |publisher=BBC News Magazine |accessdate=2008-09-30]

Taylor attracted public attention in September 2008 when the Corpus Clock, also known as the Chronophage, was installed on the outer wall of the Taylor Library of Corpus Christi College and unveiled by Stephen Hawking. [Citation |last= |first= |title=Hawking unveils 'strangest clock' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7625815.stm |publisher=bbc.co.uk |date=2008-09-19 |accessdate=2008-09-19] John Taylor spent £1m of his own money in the construction of the Corpus Clock and gave it as a gift to the college.Citation |last= |first= |title= Beware the time-eater: Cambridge University's monstrous new clock |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/sep/18/corpus.clock |publisher=guardian.co.uk |date=2008-09-18 |accessdate=2008-09-20]

References

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NAME= Taylor, John C.
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SHORT DESCRIPTION= British inventor, entrepreneur, horologist and philanthropist
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