Company History

The story of Northern Connectors - Passion, Expertise and Loyalty

Northern Connectors was established over 35 years ago by husband and wife team Keith and Linda Hewitt. From humble beginnings trading from a small unit in St Helens with initially just one franchise agreement, the business has grown to become a celebrated and successful company which represents over ten of the industry’s top connector manufacturers.

Northern Connectors remains a family run business with both first and second generation now involved in the day to day running of the company. The passion and expertise that runs through the whole of Northern Connectors is a key element to the Company’s success and has lead to many long-standing, excellent relationships with suppliers and customers alike.

Please take a moment to read the key milestones of our business as shown below.

1983 - Northern Connectors Supplies and Services established at Jackson Street, St. Helens, with Burndy franchise

1988 - Company extend unit from 500 to 1000ft²

1989 - Northern Connectors become a Limited Company

1990 - Sign franchised distribution agreement with Radiall

1993 - Move into new 3000ft² purpose built premises at Abbotsfield Road, St. Helens, situated on one acre of land

1993 - FCI award Northern special award for 'Outstanding Sales Performance and Growth'

1994 - Northern’s new premises officially opened by Regional Director of the Government Office for Merseyside 

1995 - ISO 9001 : 2000 accreditation awarded

1996 - Sign franchised distribution agreement with Weidmuller

1997 - Receive CIE/ECIF 'Excellence in Distribution Award'

1998 - Sign franchised distribution agreement with HARTING

1998 - FCI award Northern special award in recognition of '15 Years Loyalty and Exceptional Success'

1998 - Receive 'Supplier of the Year' award from Park Air Electronics

1999 - Radiall present Northern with special award for 'Fastest Growing Distributor for RF Connectors'

1999 - Sign franchised distribution agreement with Alpha Wire

2000 - Sign franchised distribution agreement with Hirschmann

2001 - Sign franchised distribution agreement with Binder

2002 - Receive 'Specialist Distributor of the Year' award from HARTING

2002 - Alstom Traction award Northern Connectors with kan ban contract

2003 - Receive 'Specialist Distributor of the Year' award from HARTING for the 2nd year running

2005 - Souriau award Northern Connectors the VAD assembly for UT0 and UT0W series

2006 - Souriau award Northern Connectors the VAD assembly for UTS series

2006 - Sign franchised distribution agreement with Conec

2007 - Sign franchised distribution agreement with Lumberg Automation

2007 - Receive 'Specialist Distributor of the Year' award from HARTING for the 3rd time

2008 - Northern Connectors celebrates 25 Years in the Electronics Industry

2008 - Become fully authorised distributor for Hummel

2010 - Northern Connectors celebrates 20 years representing Radiall

2010 - Sign franchise distribution agreement with Binder

2011 - Receive 'Specialist Distributor of the Year' award from HARTING for the 4th time

2012 - Northern Connectors become 'Preferred Distribution Partner (Gold Status)' for Hirschmann

2012 - Northern Connectors become 'Preferred Distribution Partner (Gold Status)' for Lumberg Automation

2013 - Northern Connectors celebrates 30 years in the Electronics Industry

2013 - Binder award Northern Connectors for being the 'Top Performing Distributor' of their Snap in IP67 Connectors

2013 - Receive 'Specialist Distributor of the Year' award from HARTING for the 5th time

2014 - Become a distribution partner for Mennekes

2014 - Receive 'Specialist Distributor of the Year' award from HARTING for the 6th time

2015 - Receive 'Specialist Distributor of the Year' award from HARTING for the 7th time

2016 - Northern Connectors celebrates 20 years representing Weidmuller

2017 - ISO 9001 : 2015 accreditation awarded

2017 - Receive 'Specialist Distributor of the Year' award from HARTING for the 8th time

2018 - Northern Connectors celebrates 20 years representing HARTING

2018 - Northern Connectors celebrates 35 years in the Electronics Industry

2019 - Receive 'Specialist Distributor of the Year' award from HARTING for the 9th time