TECHNOLOGY - Feb. 27, 1990

Executives to Buy Isles Inc.: Isles Industries Inc. of Brea wasn’t a big enough fish for the British conglomerate Hanson PLC, and that was just fine with Donald Murphy and Paula McConnell. Once merely the two top executives of Isles--which makes specialized work benches for electronics manufacturing--Murphy and McConnell will, within the next few days, own the company.

Founded in 1971, Isles has been a Hanson subsidiary since its former parent company, Kidde Corp., was purchased by the aggressive U.K. firm in 1987. McConnell said the Brea company was “too small to be mixed up in this huge corporation.” When Hanson decided to sell, Murphy and McConnell decided to buy, though McConnell would not say for how much.

The 55-employee company has annual revenue of about $5.5 million and lost money last year, McConnell said. This year, though, profits are expected as orders from the booming medical equipment industry offset spending declines in the aerospace and computer sectors.