[Arran]

One good thing I have noticed about most British Philco sets is that they used American style tubes at least. One exception is the Philco People's set, that four tube model in a Bakelite cathedral style cabinet, they used a PenDD valve, it was a power output tube with two diodes in the same envelope. The good news, even with the People's sets, is that the tubes all used 6.3 volt filaments so there are a few ways I can think of to substitute that PenDD valve for something more normal and less expensive.
I like the front panel on that Empire Five, it looks like some work went into the marquetry, the center portion around the dial looks like some olive burl, the area around the knobs looks like stump or burl walnut. Is the molding on the front corners solid walnut?
Regards
Arran