Mannerisms

The story continues:

'Group profits before tax were £2,475,000, an increase of nearly £570,000 on the previous year. Reserves totalled £8.785,000 - more than three times the issued share capital. Group current assets total £25.5 million.'

In 1964, four years after this article appeared Thorn was knighted. In 1972 his horse won the 2,000 Guineas.

Thorn was born in Vienna and came to the UK after World War I as a representative of a lamp manufacturer. When his employer went bust in 1926, he set up on his own, diversifying into manufacturing in 1936. He grew the company into one of the UK's largest electrical groups.