Edwards Ltd is a British, multinational vacuum and ultra-high vacuum pump manufacturer. It is based in Burgess Hill and has been a subsidiary of Atlas Copco since 2014. Edwards holds 1,700 patents, including for dry (oil-free) vacuum pumps, and produces equipment used for manufacturing semiconductors; scientific research; freeze drying, and in other industries. Its pumps remove contaminants at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. Manufacture is predominantly by subsidiary businesses in Czechoslovakia, South Korea and China. Edwards' global research and development facilities remain in the UK. Major customers in 2012 included Samsung, Hynix, Agilent and LG. History Independent In 1919, physicist Frederick David (F E) Edwards and his father William founded their eponymous business in Camberwell as Edwards Equipment and Services, importing vacuum equipment from Germany's Leybold. Cut off from its supplier because of World War II, and with German patents voided in the UK, independent manufacturing began in 1939. The firm was renamed W Edwards and Co in 1940, then Edwards High Vacuum International Ltd in 1950, and moved to Crawley in 1953. Edwards purchased Italian freeze drying equipment manufacturer Alto Vuoto SpA in 1954, followed by the Shoreham factory of former subcontractor J H Holmes and Son Ltd in 1958. In the 1960s the firm listed as a public company; suffered from strike action; F E Edwards died, and after financial difficulties it was sold to BOC. BOC BOC Group's purchase of Edwards in 1968 was followed by international expansion, particularly into Asia, and investment at the Crawley, Eastbourne, Shoreham and Burgess Hill sites. In 1984, Edwards developed and patented the first practical high vacuum dry (no-oil) pumps. The design was taken up by the fast growing semiconductor manufacturing market. Linde and CCMP Capital Linde AG purchased BOC in 2006 for , selling Edwards to CCMP Capital, and its Asian fund, in 2007 for becoming Edwards Group Ltd, and then Edwards Group plc. New, Cayman Islands holding company Edwards Group Ltd listed on NASDAQ, in 2012 via ADS under ticker symbol EVAC, with a IPO. It delisted in 2014 when Atlas Copco purchased operating subsidiary Edwards Ltd for £1 billion. In 2011, manufacturing sites were opened in Czech Republic and South Korea for industrial / pharmaceutical / chemical / scientific, and semiconductor markets respectively. Most of Edwards' UK manufacturing capacity was closed, completing plans proposed under BOC in 2005. Edwards was awarded its seventh Queen's Award in 2012. Atlas Copco