BLEECO was founded by Ernest Henry Heaps, who remained its managing director until his retirement in 1961 (when the firm then was taken over by Haven Foundries, Newhaven).

Heaps started his career as an apprentice with Westinghouse in Manchester (which later became Metropolitan Vickers) and during that period he designed the electric controllers for the first Brighton trams. Perhaps due to this job, he left the heart of England, and travelled south to Brighton in 1910 and became the first works manager of Allen West.

Although he appeared to be tied to Brighton at this point, he commuted to London during World War One where he was in charge of a munitions factory in London.

Heaps founded BLEECO in 1921, taking on the contract to modernize the street lighting of the city. In 1927, he designed and erected the first electrically operated semaphore traffic signals in the UK at the junction of West Street and Kings Road.

By producing a series of fittings for Brighton's street lighting, based around Holophane's refractor technology, Heap's company went from strength to strength and BLEECO columns, brackets and lanterns were installed across the UK and Ireland.

Henry Heaps died in 1969, aged 86.

"His name was Ernest as attested to by a number of silver plates, inscribed in his honour at major events of his life, that were forwarded to me after his death in 1969. The last time I saw him was at Southampton in 1968 when I left for the colonies of Australia."

"In fact the first born male Heaps from each generation has been named Ernest, just as I was named Ernest Colin."

"As a young boy I can still recall the Saturday family get togethers at Nan and Grandad’s home in Riley Rd, riding in his old Packhard and sorting out the small change that he used to deposit in a massive pickle jar at the end of each day. Once a year my brother and I spent the day sorting and counting the farthings, halfpennies, pennies and silver three penny pieces, which became the holiday pocket money for the grand children."

"I still have some old 8mm film of those times and the silver ink well from his desk, a commemorative plate presented to him at the end of the second world war and one presented to him on his retirement from Alan West and photo’s of the very first semaphore signals you mention."

"His son Joseph (my father) undertook a lot of his drafting work and I well remember him taking me with him to the factory on the evenings that he worked. It was a wondrous place for a boy to wander through after the workers had left for the day."

"Unfortunately my father died in April this year. I was able to spend the last week of his life with him and whilst fossicking around the attic I recall coming across a number of photographic plates of the lights they designed." - Colin Heaps

Many thanks to John Knight for the scans. "The chap in the middle of the picture above (hands on hips) is Gordon Bowley he was the foreman, I knew him and he was quite a character - as he once said 'he killed more germans than most blokes they put in uniform'. The large chap on the left was the Boss... naturally"