about
Company History
Over 200 years of heritage, continuity and diversification.
While many companies in today's wire industry can trace their origins back to family-founded businesses, with most that link has long been lost. But not so with Ormiston Wire, which still operates as an independent, family-owned and run business.
It was over 200 hundred years ago, when George III was on the throne and Britain was at war with a revolutionary France, that James Ormiston set up his own business.
James was born in 1769. He lived most of his young life in the West Country, particularly Bristol. The first record of his business activity was in a local trade directory, where he was listed as a partner and accountant with Heineken and Ormiston, a firm of sugar refiners.
His first steps into the wire business began when he became the agent for the already well established Bristol Brass and Copper Company. His success in this role resulted in him being approached by BBCC to take charge of their branch office in London.
So in 1803 James left Bristol and set up in rented premises at 22 Bread Street, off Cheapside, in the City of London. It was here that he diversified and prospered, eventually founding the specialist company that is Ormiston Wire today.
