Varilight

The Horsham-based business has been manufacturing dimmer switches since its conception in 1972. It was Dr Tony Doyle's wife Carole who suggested that his original drill speed controller would be better employed to control the brightness of domestic lights and the Varilight dimmer switch was born. Originally this was a cottage industry with the Doyle and Tratt families keeping pace with initial sales demand by making the dimmers themselves. It was not until the first contract with a major retailer was secured some years later that new arrangements were made for production to be increased. This freed up the four directors to devote more of their time to sales and new product development.