Early years Bowers & Wilkins began as a
radio and
electronics shop in Worthing. It was started after
World War II by John Bowers and Roy Wilkins, who had met while serving in the
Royal Corps of Signals during the war and learned of their shared interest in radio. The shop expanded to include television retail, a rentals business, and a service department run by Peter Hayward, a childood friend of Bowers. When the shop began supplying public address equipment to schools and churches in Sussex, Bowers became increasingly involved in the design and assembly of
loudspeakers, eventually setting up a small production line in workshops behind the shop.
1960s In 1966, Bowers founded a separate company, B&W Loudspeakers Ltd., marking a shift away from his involvement with the original shop. The first production line for B&W Loudspeakers was set up in workshops located in the shop's backyard. In 1968, Audioscript in the Netherlands became the first international
distributor appointed. The DM1 (Domestic Monitor) and DM3 were introduced that year. Dennis Ward (a former technical manager at
EMI) became a member of the board in 1969.
1970s In 1970, the ionovac-tweeter equipped P2 speakers were produced. They were also licensed by
Sony and rebadged in Worthing to be distributed in Japan. The company decided to develop a loudspeaker wholly built in-house. The sizeable DM70 from 1970 combined
electrostatic mid- and high range on top of a traditional bass unit. Housing
anechoic chambers and extensive
Bruel & Kjaer measurement equipment, the research team investigated phase linearity and
speaker cone construction using laser
interferometry. 1972 also saw the introduction of the DM2, a three-unit system, consisting of an 8-inch bass/mid-range speaker rear loaded with an
acoustic line, a
Celestion HF1300 tweeter, and a super tweeter. B&W was recognized with the
Queen's Award for Export in 1973 In the 1980s, Laurence Dickie was hired as an amplifier designer. In a 2025 interview, Dickie said, "I was given the job because I’d been working on active crossovers for fun, as a hobby." Dickie had developed the idea of a 'matrix' construction, after initial inspiration of Aerolam being used by Celestion. His reasoning was to extend the structure of Aerolam to fill the entire cabinet. Dibb's 1987 'Concept 90' CM1 loudspeaker In 1987, Bowers died. and asked Dickie to independently complete the work of John Bowers, who was researching a way of producing a speaker with zero cabinet effect. This ultimately became the 'Nautilus' Loudspeaker premiered in its prototype form in 1991. In 1996, Robert Trunz completed the sale of his shares and Joe Atkins took control of Bowers and Wilkins. A second plant was built in Bradford. B&W took over its production factory for cabinets in Agerbæk, Denmark in 2003. In the same year, the Bradford location was left for new premises in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire. 2005 also saw B&W receive the Queen's Award for Innovation for the tube-loaded drivers on the 800s. B&W's 803D and PV1 received the EISA Award for European High End Audio Component of the Year and European Home Theatre Subwoofer of the year 2005-2006 respectively. In 2007, the 'Zeppelin'
iPod speaker system was introduced. From 2008 to 2012, the "
Jaguar XF Audio System" by B&W was available: a car audio setup with 14 speakers and a powered 440 Watt
Class AB DSP amplifier. In May 2008, B&W started the Bowers & Wilkins Music Club, now known as the Society of Sound, returning the company into the music business. The Society of Sound is a subscription-based music retail site. Albums are currently available in either
Apple Lossless or
Flac format. The site is a partnership with
Peter Gabriel's
Real World Studios, and artists to be featured have been
Little Axe,
Cara Dillon,
Gwyneth Herbert, and
Portico Quartet. Former
Suede frontman Brett Anderson had his solo album
Wilderness released through the Society of Sound before being available for retail.
2010s In May 2016, Bowers & Wilkins was bought by Eva Automation, a company founded two years prior by
Gideon Yu. In October 2017, B&W became the official headphones and loudspeaker partner of
Abbey Road Studios.
2020s In October 2020,
Sound United LLC acquired Bowers & Wilkins. In early 2022, Sound United was acquired by US-American
Masimo. In May 2025, Masimo announced that it would sell its consumer audio division to
Harman International, a division of
Samsung Electronics, for $350 million. ==Technology, research and development==