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After leaving Rolls Royce in 1964 John started his own company
J Wilkinson Electronics Ltd. Soon he was to take out patents on several of his own inventions. One of these inventions, an unbeatable burglar alarm system received international acclaim as a world first. John had stumbled on, and patented, a unique method of security signalling. Unbeknown to anyone, the outline of this idea was at that time subject to a high security government classification and part of a top secret development programme. John without knowing any of this had beaten them to the post. This led to the formation in 1968 of a new company Wiltron Security Systems Ltd. to market and promote this exciting new product. After fairly rapid growth but suffering from a lack of personal venture capital, the major shareholding in the company was finally acquired by Scottish Amicable in 1970.
John moved to the Lake District and within a year had started a new security company based in Windermere. Lakeland Alarms Ltd. This was the first security business in the County. After rapid growth and some fairly aggressive take-over negotiations, the business was eventually sold in 1980 to Ready Mixed Concrete. At that time Ready Mixed Concrete were in the process of creating one of the largest security organisations in the UK.
At this time John's interests were following new developments, personal computers. Very soon after buying his 1st Apple computer, the Kendal Computer Centre opened its doors. This was another first for John, as it was the first computer store to open in Cumbria. It is most pleasing to note that despite the ups and downs of those early days of the computer industry, the company, now trading as
Kencomp.net, , is still in business after 26 years.
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