Allen Boothroyd

Allen was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and died while being treated in February 2020.

In 1991, Allen founded his own consultancy, Cambridge Product Design Ltd., offering one-stop design solutions, which he ran from his home in Little Shelford. Early designs included a new class of loudspeaker for Canon, the first Patientline (providing a phone/TV/Radio console for hospital patients), the Aga Masterchef range cooker, a coffee machine, timpani drums, and different types of loudspeaker for KEF, Celestion, THX, Russound and Pioneer. He continued as design director of Meridian Audio. Pioneer commissioned Boothroyd to produce a unique appearance for its new surround-sound speaker system. His design was used in the Pioneer Elite Reference speaker system.

Allen's semi-retirement provided time for him to indulge his hobbies: drawing and painting, tennis, golf, and music. From the 1990s, he would always take his sketch pad on holiday and took pleasure in sitting in front of a historic building or view that captured his imagination. He was instrumental in the fundraising and design for a new village hall in Little Shelford and created the elegant village sign. Later on, he led sessions of the Pavilion Art Group, helping artists to develop their skills. Listening to music was always an important part of Allen's life – in particular classical, jazz, and popular music.

Meanwhile, Bob had also moved to Cambridge and together he and Allen founded Boothroyd Stuart Meridian (later Meridian Audio Ltd). They designed, manufactured, and sold the entire product range themselves, with very little investment. Allen and Bob received their second Design Council Award for the company's 100 Series in 1982. In 1986, a new line – the 200 Series – was launched and continued to be produced until 1993 when it was replaced by the 500 Series. It grew to include the whole range of domestic hi-fi, from CD players, radio tuners, pre-amplifiers, power amplifiers, digital-to-analogue converters, and a range of multi-room components, all designed by Bob and Allen. A series of active loudspeakers (with on-board amplifiers) was developed and brought to market starting in 1977. By this time, Meridian Audio had become known for its state-of-the-art electronics, distinctive design style, and corporate identity. In 1988, Bob and Allen were presented with another Design Council Award by the Duke of Edinburgh, becoming the first design team to win this award three times.

In 1981, he provided the case design for the BBC Micro, the computer used in the BBC’s Computer Literacy Project. He also worked on the design for the Acorn RiscPC computer.

Together with Bob Stuart, an award-winning electronics engineer, they designed the Lecson AC1 pre-amp and AP1 power amplifier which they produced in 1974. The Lecson hi-fi is now in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. It also earned them their first British Design Council Award in 1974.

Allen joined Cambridge Consultants Ltd in 1972 to set up their Industrial Design division. One of his designs was an electric bicycle, which was the winner of the Prince Philip Designers Prize.

When Allen graduated from the Royal College of Art. in the 1960s, not many people knew what an industrial designer did. He was always at pains to explain that it was not just a question of the product's appearance: it encompassed all the production engineering and mechanical stages to take a product from concept to market. He was a talented draftsman and, for most of his professional life, Allen's designs were produced by hand, with 3D visuals as well as detailed engineering drawings.

Allen Boothroyd M Des RCA, FSCD, FRSA (1943–2020) was a British industrial designer of consumer electronics, best known for the Lecson amplifiers, BBC Microcomputer and co-founder of Meridian Audio.