About
Innovating sustainable lighting solutions for a brighter future.
Thorlux Lighting is a globally recognised manufacturer of luminaires and lighting control systems.
Headquartered in Worcestershire, UK, its modern 16,882 m² factory is just a few miles from where Frederick William Thorpe first manufactured Thorlux luminaires in 1936. Thorlux proudly manufactures over 90% of its products in the Midlands, employing over five hundred people locally.
Thorlux is a complete lighting solutions partner, a single point of contact for luminaires, controls, design, installation, and more. Sustainability and environmental care are written in the organisation’s DNA, with a 2040 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target.
As part of the FW Thorpe Plc Group, Thorlux remains family-driven, with the Thorpe family actively involved in the organisation. Ninety years after its foundation, Thorlux remains at the forefront of efficient, high-quality lighting technology.
Our purpose
To provide innovative lighting solutions and services that people can rely on.
Our vision
To be a leading provider of lighting solutions for commercial and industrial markets, delivering sustainable and innovative lighting products with best-in-class customer service from a dedicated and skilled workforce.
Our values
Family: Thorlux knows its employees are its most vital asset. The company has a long history and genuinely cares about its people, their professional development and work-life balance.
Hard work: Thorlux staff work hard for customers and each other.
Innovation: Thorlux empowers its people to deliver innovation in everything they do.
Sustainability: Thorlux works to continuously improve environmental initiatives and take better care of the Earth.
Customer delight: Thorlux focuses on delivering outstanding customer service.
Doing the right thing: Honesty and integrity are central to everything Thorlux does. The company wants to make the right decisions for people and the planet.
Towards a brighter future: a history of Thorlux
1936
Thorlux Lighting is founded by Frederick William Thorpe in Small Heath, Birmingham. The company starts out making vitreous enamelled steel reflectors.
1939
Due to growing demand, the company moves to larger premises in nearby Hall Green. With the advent of low-pressure sodium lamps, the product range grows to include street lanterns.
1963
Thorlux moves to a purpose-built site in Birmingham’s Kings Norton area and introduces new products including cast floodlights, bulkheads, and hazardous area lighting.
1964
Frederick William Thorpe passes away in January 1964. The company goes public, though most shares will remain with the Thorpe family.
1981
Mr. Thorpe’s son, Ernest, becomes the company chair. Thorlux continues to expand its design and production capabilities, producing luminaires for offices and retail stores. With the establishment of a powder coating plant, space at the King’s Norton site becomes limited.
1989
After breaking ground in 1987, Thorlux moves to its facility in Redditch, Worcestershire, in 1989. Thorlux produces its first energy-saving luminaires in the mid-1990s.
2000
Thorlux launches the successful, energy-efficient Smart lighting control system. Andrew Thorpe, F.W. Thorpe’s grandson, becomes chair in 2003.
2009
Thorlux commences an ambitious carbon offsetting programme to negate CO₂ generated by its activities.
2012
Thorlux establishes an LED printed circuit board production department with a state-of-the-art warehouse and distribution facility. Thorlux is independently assessed as carbon neutral per ISO 14064.
2016
Launch of SmartScan, a groundbreaking wireless lighting management system.
2019
The SmartScan system wins the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation.
2024
Thorlux Lighting, as part of FW Thorpe Plc, has its net-zero target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) under the Net-Zero Standard.
Current day
Today, Thorlux and the FW Thorpe Plc Group are among the biggest lighting system manufacturers in the UK, employing over eight hundred individuals.
one
One source for your lighting needs
Thorlux provides a professional one-stop-shop service covering everything from planning to installation and beyond, managing the risks and ensuring a successful delivery.
Project discovery
First, we get to know you and establish your objectives. We conduct an in-depth site survey to assess your current lighting system and pinpoint the issues.
Design and planning
We design and propose options for lighting systems that significantly increase efficiency and offer impressive returns on investment. We then build the new fittings to order at our UK factory.
Installation and commissioning
Our teams of qualified, experienced engineers install and then commission the new lighting system. We plan this process with you to minimise disruption and optimise effectiveness.
Handover and through-life support
The last step of the process is to train all relevant personnel to use the new lighting system. All our products are subject to a five-year warranty; support is only a phone call away.
Lighting a greener tomorrow
On a journey to net-zero by 2040.
For the last two decades, Thorlux Lighting, as part of the FW Thorpe Plc Group, has worked hard to reduce its environmental impact, and we are proud of the progress made.
But, recognising that there is still much to do to safeguard the environment and avoid the worst effects of climate change, Thorlux and the FW Thorpe Plc Group have set a target to reach net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2040, ten years before the UK government’s 2050 net-zero target.
Learn more
Thorlux drives sustainability
Thorlux Lighting is taking significant steps to reduce its environmental impact by investing in a new fleet of electric and biofuel-powered delivery vehicles. This initiative is part of an ongoing strategy to increase sustainable transportation at the company.
Global reach and export expertise
Thorlux has sales offices in Ireland, Germany, and Australia, plus a worldwide network of distributors. Our experienced Export Department manages requirements from small orders to large international projects.
Sales offices
Thorlux Lighting
Redditch, UK
Thorlux Lighting
Dublin, Ireland
SchahlLED Lighting
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Thorlux Lighting
Sydney, Australia
International agents
portugal
spain
The Netherlands
Norway
Sweden
Switzerland
Denmark
Poland
Israel
Saudi Arabia
Kuwait
Bahrain
Qatar
Oman
united_arab_emirates
Singapore
hong_kong
Taiwan
Indonesia
New Zealand
A responsible member of the community
Employee development
Thorlux encourages employees to develop their skills, with multiple training options available. The company is committed to giving its team what they need to excel in the rapidly advancing lighting industry.
Apprenticeships
Thorlux has a long history of fostering apprentices’ talents, combining valuable academic support with on-the-job training to achieve experience and essential qualifications. This programme includes working within various departments to gain an overall company appreciation. Many apprentices stay at Thorlux to build careers; several senior staff members started this way.
Our policy principles
Labour and human rights
Thorlux is a family company at heart. Since its foundation in 1936, the company has grown to be a globally recognised brand through its team's hard work and commitment. Employing approximately five hundred people at its Redditch, Worcestershire headquarters, Thorlux prides itself in genuinely caring about its people, their professional development, and work-life balance.
Thorlux’s Labour and Human Rights policy is our formal commitment to empower our employees, to ensure they have good working conditions and reduce any negative impact. This applies to both current and future employees, as well as external stakeholders such as clients and civil society by driving more sustainable practices as a result of addressing labour and human rights issues.
Detailed commitments and KPIs cover key areas including health and safety (with our safety management system certified to ISO 45001), career development (supported by a long and successful apprenticeship programme), as well as diversity, equity and inclusion, and the prevention of child and forced labour.
Risk analysis relating to human rights, including forced and child labour, extends beyond our own manufacturing operations into the wider supply chain. Risks are assessed based on both product and material type, as well as country of origin.
Materials
Thorlux is committed to the protection of the environment and human rights, the need to end child labour and the issues around critical and conflict materials throughout the life cycle of its products from design and development, to manufacture, distribution, use, reuse and eventual end of life.
This work includes reductions in embodied carbon and water, enabling a circular economy, lengthening of product lives, research and use of innovative sustainable or recycled materials and reduction of waste.
Environment
Thorlux is committed to reducing its impact on the environment by making its operations more sustainable in all aspects of corporate social responsibility. Our environmental management system aligns our commitments and key performance indicators across a range of topics from carbon neutrality (achieved in 2012), net-zero (SBTi verified 2040 target) and water use (CDP ‘B’ score) to biodiversity (394 acres of broad leaved biodiverse woodland is owned, planted and managed by Thorlux), use of 100% renewable or self generated electricity and a zero to landfill waste policy.
True sustainability requires transparency so we report through accepted, evidence driven, third-party sustainability metrics such as Eco Vadis and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
Ethics
Thorlux’s ethics policy is our clear statement as a company to follow ethical business practices, establish guidelines for acceptable behaviour and reduce their negative impacts. This is to protect all our stakeholders including employees, our ecosystem of suppliers and customers as well as wider society.
We ensure effective governance against bribery and corruption, conflicts of interest, fraud, breaches of competition law and money laundering by a system of risk assessment, training, third-party auditing and channels for whistleblowing.
To keep suppliers’, employees’ and customers’ digital information safe we proactively manage risk, keep high levels of awareness and test our systems. We are third-party certified to ISO 27001 Information Security Management.
Sustainable procurement
Our Sustainable Procurement policy provides a framework within which all procurement activity at Thorlux results in enhanced sustainability outcomes across the whole lifecycle of the product, component, material or input.
We do this by training our team, reaching out to our suppliers as well as providing them with a clear and comprehensive Supplier Code of Conduct. We have been awarded an overall ‘A’ score for CDP’s Supplier Engagement Assessment.
Social value
Social Value is the positive impact we have on our communities, economies and environment. Ordered in terms of materiality (what matters most to our stakeholders), we see five clear themes: Better Places & Spaces, Workforce Development & Wellbeing, Community Engagement and Strategic Engagement (working cooperatively with our business partners and end users to create value beyond the product).
Perhaps our greatest ongoing legacy of social value is our commitment to reliably, competently and sustainably lighting places and spaces. We also specialise in lighting buildings that themselves are of the greatest social value including hospitals, schools, universities and railways.
Thorlux believes in giving back to society and supports several charitable and community organisations working locally and further afield. We also work cooperatively with our business partners and end users. This can vary from training and inspiring the next generation to practical projects.