British Cables Company

The Blackley site has long been a fundamental part of the local community. Not only as an employer, but also for the social activities that have been a vital ingredient in the business since its formation. There have been generations from the same families employed at Blackley Cable factory and this continues to this day. In the late 90s a local artist was commissioned to create a mural in the factory grounds depicting the evolution of the factory from its inception.

Our factory was established here in Blackley, Manchester in 1895. These days, fewer people remember that it was in fact, an original site of the BICC business, one of the first major manufacturers of cables in the country.

Since then, we have benefitted from different owners, at one stage being part of the BT Group, prior to our current ownership by The Wilms Group.

We are delighted that the heritage we’ve created continues to this day. Many of our valued employees are second and even third generation, designing and manufacturing cables that are specified throughout the UK and indeed, the world. Teamwork drives everything we do and it’s this combined effort that really makes the difference to our customers. Our technical knowledge and service support is regularly considered to be outstanding.

In recent years, not only has our product range significantly expanded but also our customer base. You’ll find our cables provide solutions for a wide range of applications: Copper Telecoms, Optical Fibre, Rail, Structured Cabling, Building Wires, Booklet Armoured, BS8436 Protected Building Wires, Fire Resistant Cables and Building Management cables.

Wilms is the biggest privately owned cable manufacturing group in Europe. Having 25 production plants its portfolio covers a vast range of cables and related products for a wide range of market sectors, industrial equipment, machinery solutions and renewable energy. The new company is now known as BCC – British Cables Company.

Key Statistics

• Over 1,050,000 hours since the factory was formed
• Over 650,000* tonnes of copper used since formation
• Over 8 million km* of cable produced since formation. The distance from the Earth to the moon and back MORE THAN 10 TIMES!!
• Over 150 million Loop km* of cable produced since formation – greater than the distance from Earth to the Sun (149.6million km from earth to sun)
• Provider of cables to BT (as the Post Office since 1909)