Rescuing Music From Technology
HISTORY
Handcrafted since 1967
The Timeline
Current
Under Tony Miller in 1981, production was relocated to our current factory in Heckmondwike, a short distance from where it all began. For 40 years Tony was the managing director of Sugden Audio until his passing in 2021.
Patrick Miller began working at Sugdens in 1982 under the guidance of his father Tony. He worked in all areas of the business from assembly and packing through to sales and subsequently to leading our small but dedicated team.
Patrick, Tony and the talented Sugden team have made it the brand it is known as today, with approximately 100 products being released between this time.
Patrick Miller, Managing Director of Sugden Audio passed away in September 2023 following a short illness.
Today we still manufacture in the same tradition with each Sugden product being handmade by a single highly skilled team member. Half of the team have been with the company for over thirty years enjoying a life-long career. Our involvement in the full manufacturing process still exists from design to despatch. We operate our own custom engineering shop , screen printing and assembly room.
Sugden products are a truly handmade quality British product.
Sugden Audio continues under the Miller family together with the long-term Sugden team
1981-2023
Carr Street
Almost all the manufacturing processes were carried out at the new Sugden factory. These included cases, building circuit boards and final assembly of each item all by hand. The Cleckheaton factory saw the development of many new products including the A48 integrated amplifier and C51/P51 pre and power amplifier. There were also three analogue radio tuners and a full set of audio test equipment.
A21 Pure Class A
The A21 was the worlds’ first production pure class A transistor amplifier and a great success.
The partnership with Richard Allan was short lived and within a year the amplifier was renamed the SUGDEN A21. Shortly afterwards, manufacturing was moved to larger premises in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire
James E Sugden
The company was founded by James Edward Sugden in 1967, a division of Research Electronics. Research Electronics manufactured scientific instruments and test equipment, designed by James Sugden, for Universities. The A21 was the first amplifier to be put into production and was originally branded for a well known local loudspeaker company called Richard Allan.
1967