Routeco Ltd was formed in 1978 as a multi-franchise industrial electrical distributor based in Milton Keynes. In those early days the company focussed on electrical wholesale products such as lighting, cable and wiring accessories.

In 1980 we were awarded an Allen-Bradley franchise for Milton Keynes and the surrounding area and several years later we were appointed as a Siemens distributor for switchgear and programmable logic controllers. It was during this time that the company changed direction from a general electrical wholesaler to a specialist distributor of industrial control and automation products. Success followed very rapidly and we soon opened our first sales outlet outside of Milton Keynes in Peterborough in 1989.

In 1990 Routeco Ltd became Routeco plc and Peterborough branch became an exclusive distributor for Allen-Bradley Products. In the next couple of years further branches were opened in Manchester and Coventry.

In June 1992 we agreed a unique deal with Allen-Bradley to become an exclusive distributor throughout the Routeco plc organisation. New sales outlets were opened immediately in Bristol, East London and Southampton followed by further branches in West London and Derby.

In 1996 we completed our first acquisition; Control Gear (electrical) Ltd in Swansea, to gain market presence in South Wales and this was quickly followed up by the opening of a new branch in Cardiff. Throughout the remainder of the 90s we continued to expand the business and opened branches in Stoke-on-Trent, Ipswich, Runcorn, Leeds, Doncaster and Peterlee.

In 1998 we formed Routeco GmbH based in Linz to serve the Austrian market with Industrial Control and Automation products.

During this period other innovative ideas were introduced such as our 640 page fully priced product catalogue as well as the launch of eProcurement solutions allowing customers to purchase direct via the website, marketplaces or through SAP integration.

Routeco Holdings Ltd was formed in 2000 to accommodate the company’s expansion plans and provide a platform to offer customers a diverse range of products and services. The first addition to the holding group was Routeco Information Technology serving local customers with IT solutions and products whilst supporting Routeco plc in the deployment of network infrastructures.

Early 2000 saw a continuation of the branch expansion strategy with new branches being opened in East Kilbride and Plymouth. Our presence in Scotland was further enhancedith our second acquisition, Tricon Automation.