125 years of Collingwood: from a 1901 workshop to Britain's LED pioneer

Collingwood was founded in 1901 as FEC Limited. It moved into electronics and lighting in 1961 as Collingwood VLM, and was renamed Collingwood Lighting in 2001 — making 2026 its 125th year.

Through every change of name the business has kept one market and one instinct: the UK electrical trade, and a habit of moving early. In 2002 it became the first company to supply a purpose-built LED range to UK wholesale.

A century and a quarter, in four chapters

• 1901 — FEC Limited is founded in Northamptonshire.
• 1961 — The business moves into electronics and lighting as Collingwood VLM.
• 2002 — First purpose-built LED range supplied to the UK electrical wholesale trade.
• 2026 — Founding brand of Inovara Group, EcoVadis Gold for the third year running.

“A heritage is only worth talking about if it still shapes how you work. Ours shows up every time we ship something to the trade before the market asks for it.”

Managing Director, Collingwood Lighting