If Plessey does seek a white knight in the UK, proposing marriage to Thorn EMI Plc still looks like a very positive option for the company: adding the now bubbling Inmos International Plc to Plessey’s fast expanding semiconductor interests begins to create a substantial UK player in the chip business, a combination of the Thorn software and services businesses with Hoskyns Group Plc creates a world scale company in what is now seen as a most desirable business – with Plessey-Telenet having a contribution to make on the systems implementation side, and there is scope for synergy between Plessey’s emerging consumer telephones business with Racal and Thorn’s retail side.