Press Release
Sonifex Ltd Founder Paul Brooke Passes Away
05 December 2023
Paul Brooke, founder of Sonifex Ltd, has passed away after a short illness. Paul was keen on electronics, radio & TV from an early age, building his first crystal radio set at the age of 10 and joining a local Radio & TV club as a teenager, where radar screens were modified with RF circuitry to make an early form of television.
Paul completed an apprenticeship at Marconi in Chelmsford, where he learned a broad range of engineering skills which set him up for a career in electronics, initially working at the AEI labs in Rugby and the Northampton-based mixing desk manufacturer Elcom/Plessey.
Turning down a job at CERN in Switzerland, Paul instead decided to start his own company in the front room of his home in Wellingborough in 1969, where Sonifex was born.
Paul began manufacturing innovative bespoke audio solutions including mixing desks for the film and TV industry, building Sonifex up steadily, employing more and more staff and relocating twice to purpose built factories, as the company expanded.
The company’s big break-through came in the 1980’s, where Paul’s experience in the combination of mechanical and electronic design created a best in class product, designing and building world leading broadcast NAB cartridge machines which defined the company for many years. Sonifex became known for the high quality and reliability of its products.
Paul retired in 1994, having developed Sonifex into a successful international broadcast manufacturer, supplying an ever-increasing range of sophisticated broadcast audio equipment for the TV, radio, security and telecommunications industries.
A technically brilliant engineer and an astute businessman with a keen sense of humour, Paul will be missed. He leaves behind his wife Dorothy and sons Andrew and Marcus.
Instead of sending flowers, can any donations be made to the Irthlingborough Old Peoples Welfare Association please. Using this link, enter 'Paul Brooke: https://www.abbottfunerals.co.uk/make-a-donation/
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