GreenBrook Electrical plc is a privately owned British company based in Harlow Essex, that celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2002. It is often better known through some of its brand and divisional names such as PowerBreaker, B&R and Armadillo but the breadth of products that the company manufactures and supplies to the British electrical industry extends far beyond those covered by these names.
The year 2002 saw the fiftieth anniversary of GreenBrook Electrical plc. To be more precise, it was the 50th anniversary of the company registration 512045 which has its beginnings as Besson & Robinson Ltd in 1952 in ex government sheds in Kidbrooke Park Road, south-east London. Besson and who? The clue is in the initials B and R – the first of a number of name changes being to B & R Relays following the company’s move to a purpose built factory in Harlow in 1957.
Messrs Besson and Robinson had worked together at the relay manufacturer Londex and left to set up their own company with no more than a bench vice and an AVO meter. Within weeks they had designed a range of AC & DC relays and within a matter of only a few months they were in production and on the market. The Company quickly established itself as a leading manufacturer of relays in the industrial, military and nuclear fields. In particular it developed co-axial relays for several aircraft including the Hawker Hunter, Vickers Viscount and Concorde.
Following the company’s move to Harlow it continued to grow with the workforce rising to some 300 employees. One area of growth was through the formation of the control gear division which manufactured motor starters as well as having a range of contactors.
The next major development of the company occurred in 1975 when the Watney Mann Brewery Group approached B & R to develop a plug-in ELCB to be connected between the supply socket and the ¼ HP motor which pumped keg beer from the cellar to the bar. The first development to meet this requirement was the HO4 portable protected 13A socket, with an 18 inch flexible cord connected to a 13A plug.
The real challenge however was to package the relay and the electronic circuitry within the housing of a 13A plug. The Company rose to this challenge and produced the world’s first RCD plug, known as the “HO7 Mainsafe” and marketed it under the brand name Powerbreaker.
However with the acquisition and merger of the Norslo business, the name Powerbreaker did not reflect the breadth of the Company’s product range, which included the manufacture of malleable steel conduit boxes as one of its major activities. The name was therefore changed again in 1995 to GreenBrook Electrical plc.
The Green of GreenBrook is the name of Joseph Green who was associated with the company almost from day one and having full ownership, initially through GreenBrook Securities Ltd since 1977. Joseph Green’s sons Richard and David have been active in the company for many years and currently have non-executive roles with Richard as Chairman.
GreenBrook Electrical is still located in Harlow but in a new facility albeit close to B&R’s original site. The present day executive management team is lead by Chief Executive Steve Appleyard, who joined the Company in early 2000, bringing the experience gained from holding similar positions with MTE and Legrand during the previous fifteen years. The management team comprises Sales Director – John Bowen, Finance Director – Diane Tomkins, and Graham Orchard – Director of Purchasing and Supply. All have considerable experience of either working in or supplying to the electrical wholesale industry.
The task of the new team is to develop sales across the full range of products, while maintaining the market leader position for Powerbreaker RCD’s. In common with virtually every product range in our industry, there continues to be considerable price pressure on RCD products – particularly on plugs and adaptors. As the market leader it’s GreenBrook’s role to develop new and innovative RCD products and considerable investment is currently being made with a new range due for imminent launch.
The strategy for GreenBrook Electrical’s future growth must continue to be the development of new products says Steve Appleyard. Adding that we should continually remind ourselves that the very foundation of our company was brought about by the development and rapid introduction of innovative products, and today company 512045 has considerably more resources than a vice and an AVO.
