Very little is known about Trent Vale factory, which was in existence only for a relatively brief period and unfortunately even no photograph of the site has been found.
It appears to have been opened specifically to allow the nearby factory of AEI at
Rugby to decentralise the last of its lampmaking operations and create the necessary space for that site to concentrate on heavy electrical machinery. Previously Rugby's discharge and automotive lamps had been transferred to
Leicester and special incandescents to
Ponders End, but GLS incandescent lamps appear to have remained right to the end at Rugby. Since it is known that Rugby ceased lampmaking in 1958, it is likely that Trent Vale would have been opened in that year, or earlier.
The factory was a modern building, half of which was occupied by AEI and known as the Mazda works, the other half being shared with a Mothers' Pride bakery. Only high volume standard GLS lamps were made at Trent Vale. A few years after its foundation, there were clear efforts to rationalise the lampmaking within AEI, and it was decided that the entire group's basic GLS lamp production should be concentrated within the former Siemens works at
Strand Road, Preston. This resulted in the closure of Trent Vale, along with some further GLS transfer from
Ponders End to
Preston.
