Company Profile

As one of the most respected cable manufacturers in the world, AEI Cables is committed to quality, safety and service with no compromise.

In these days of increasing counterfeit products in the markets, we believe in giving our customers nothing but the very best. That means investing in expertise in research, raw materials, design and manufacture, ultimately delivering nothing but the best products.

Our diverse range of products means we can serve a wide range of markets including fire performance, construction, defence, power, industrial, oil & gas, rail and mining.

We have been making cables and satisfying these challenging market demands and applications around the world for more than 170 years. In that time, much has changed, and we are still helping to lead the industry with our commitment to research of polymers, raw materials, cable design and adapting our products for new applications.

Innovation, coupled with our unrivalled technical know-how built over the many years in the business, make us stand out.

Whether it is a cable for the fire performance market or an industrial application of a tailor-made product required for a specialist application, we have the capability to design, manufacture and deliver to the very highest quality and safety standards.

We are designing, manufacturing and delivering a range of cables for the Royal Navy Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carrier Programme and we have delivered cables for prestige projects such as Manchester Airport, the White City complex and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.

Overseas, we continue to be the supplier of choice to groundbreaking projects such as the Masdar Project in Abu Dhabi, the Central Market in Abu Dhabi, the Russian coal mining market and we supply cables to partners in the Far East such as the Wynn Resort, Macau.

Indeed, the experience gained by AEI Cables in working across industries worldwide has resulted in one of the most comprehensive cable product ranges available anywhere, produced under rigorous quality management systems.

AEI's products come with the assurance of a range of approvals from independent bodies including BASEC and LPCB covering design, manufacture and supply. We also hold approvals from organisations such as Lloyds, MoD, Network Rail and LUL, and work to international standards around the world including American and Canadian approval systems.


Celebrating 175 glorious years

The company AEI Cables holds a rich and interesting heritage with its roots firmly steeped in entrepreneurship and invention.

Today, we live in a world where we take mobile phones, satellite television and electricity at the flick of a switch for granted. No such luxuries for William Thomas Henley, who was born in Midhurst in Sussex in 1814 and who laid the foundations of AEI Cables as we know it today.

William Thomas Henley



William Thomas Henley 1814 - 1882

Wire covered with Silk and Cotton was increasingly in demand for electromagnetic apparatus and Henley in order to capitalise on the increasing demand converted his old lathe into a wire covering machine. This machine can still be seen today at the London Science Museum. Despite the somewhat crude nature of this machine it was actually a stroke of genius and contributed much to Henley's initial success.

Soon, Henley was manufacturing and installing long lengths of Telegraph Cable. Some of his early notable achievements included The City of London to Manchester, Dublin to Belfast and Liverpool to Manchester.
Formation of the company

The company AEI Cables originated as Associated Electrical Industries Limited (AEI) in 1929 and began as a financial holding company for a number of leading electrical manufacturing and trading companies in the UK.

If the depression of the 1930s had affected AEI unfavourably, then the Second World War proved economically beneficial for the company. AEI's productive competence was thoroughly tested as the War progressed. Many factories worked seven-day weeks. The most beneficial aspect for AEI was that it was primarily a war of scientific growth and innovation.

Birtley 1950



The Birtley factory, which opened in 1950.

During the mid-1950s AEI was to focus primarily upon domestic appliances and lighter engineering products. The company discontinued its production of valves and cathode ray tubes and in 1961 merged with Thorn allowing the latter to manage its interests. AEI purchased Siemens in 1955 thus owning four independent lamp businesses: B.T.H., Ediswan, Metrovick and Siemens. In subsequently dropping these names AEI's lamp business suffered badly.
Greatest challenge

In 1953, AEI acquired Siemens Bros., taking over the Liverpool Electric Cables Company in 1958 and Henleys a year later. These cable companies were integrated as the AEI Cable Division, re-organised in 1960 into four product groups. In 1967 the General Electric Company took over AEI Cables and Hackbridge Cables Co., culminating in the formation of AEI Cables Ltd in 1968. In 1982 production of Mineral Insulated Cables also started at AEI's Cables Bootle factory in Merseyside.

The company had been in need of decisive action by the people at the top. In 1967 GEC's Arnold Weinstock and the chairman of the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation, Ronnie Grierson, proposed an instant solution to the company's problems. This was to culminate in the historic £120 million bid by GEC for AEI, resulting in the merger in 1967.
The Modern Business

Today, AEI Cables is an industry leader focused on its manufacturing facilities at Birtley in Co Durham. Here, we specialise in the design and manufacture of elastomeric and thermoplastic cables for voltages up to 20kV. These include high performance PTFE and ETFE thinwall cables and wires, the Transcab range of Rail Transportation System cables and the Firetec fire performance cable range.

In 2007, the company became part of Paramount Communications Ltd, one of India's largest cable manufacturers which has developed a wide variety of specialized cables and wires for diversified uses.

It is the only Indian cable company to offer a comprehensive range of cables needed by all sectors of the economy including power and electricity, thermal and nuclear power plants, space research, railways, telecommunications, oil and natural gas, petrochemicals, fertilizers, steel and electronics.

Paramount Communications puts strong emphasis on keeping abreast with the latest international developments, focusing and adapting technology to create multi-faceted, need-based products for utilization in various spheres of industrial activity.

Proud of its past and excited by the future, AEI Cables has evolved into a modern, go-ahead cable manufacturer for today's global business environment with a total commitment to its customers.









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