Charles Endirect’s business anniversary is 12 October. This year we are celebrating our 40th birthday!
Directors Nic Charles and Judy Fox are pictured above in our very first office! We’re proud to retain our local roots in Wincanton.
‘To provide quality, innovative products and excellent customer service throughout this time is a huge achievement … one we’re extremely proud of,’ says Andrew Jackson, Sales & Marketing Director at Charles Endirect. ‘We would especially like to thank our incredible team, past and present, who have made this possible. We are also grateful to our clients and industry contacts for their support. Ongoing quality product design and manufacturing along with outstanding customer service remain our priority.’
A lot has happened in 40 years! You’ll see our major milestones below:
1984 – 1993
1984 – The CET (Central Earthing Terminal) was invented by Eric Charles and is now used as an industry standard. (See image.)- 1986 – Our Feeder Pillars range was introduced.
- 1989 – L2 lockable safety isolators were launched, making isolators safe for electricians and the public. They prevent people from accessing and potentially tamper with isolators or accidently restore power.
- 1992 – The innovative AVG (Anti-vandalism Gallery) for Belisha Beacons was introduced.
1994 – 2003
1995 – LSI range extended to L3 and L4. Meeting customer demand, this range was extended, increasing isolator capacity (managing up to four modules rather than just two.) With this extension came the ability for the isolators to be stacked (see image).- 1997 – Our first range of high-quality cut-outs was launched and proved very popular with Street-lighting Engineers and installing contractors.
- 2003 – Distribution Pillars tested to BSEN 60439 – 1. There is no official BSEN testing for this product, yet we were keen to offer top quality products. We found the closest BSEN for distribution pillar usage and tested to that standard for each of our pillars. We still do!
2004 – 2013
- 2010 – GIFAS In-Ground units were launched. These are ideal for marketplaces, as they pop up and are not permanent fixtures. They are a perfect solution for customers who need electricity regularly but not every day. (See image.)
- 2012 – CELtek CMS was introduced. Charles Endirect began collaborating with Datek, driving advances in hardware and software to meet the needs of the UK market. Continuous development and improvement in products, system and support continue in the current era of Smart Cities and the Internet of Things (IoT).
- 2013—Driven by demand, we expanded into EV distribution pillars, which also met our own sustainability target. (See image.)
2014 – 2023
- 2017 – Our Belisha Beacon range utilised LED lighting with our LED Halo (AVG4). This enabled greater sustainability as brightness can be adjusted for different times of the day/night as needed, plus LED lights are long-lasting.
- 2018 – SIGMA In-Ground units were introduced, designed to meet the challenges of shallow installation limitations where in-ground distribution is preferred. The Shallow, In-Ground, Multi-Access range has multiple side entry options for electrical and drainage, easing installation and reducing the depth required.
- 2019 – Our CELxcel photocell ranges were launched to meet differing customer requirements. As well as standard mounting options, our photocell ranges include the innovative conduit-base options. These meet the challenges of ever smaller and hotter LED luminaires and help extend service life.
- 2020 – Zhaga Photocells were added to our CELxcel ranges, demonstrating our ongoing innovation and embracing technology advances.
- 2022 – CELtek CMS with Zhaga connector. Embracing the industry change from Nema to Zhaga we continued supporting our customers, enabling them to use our CMS with the new connecter as technology changes and advances.
- 2023 – DFP Feeder Pillar range was introduced. Responding to high demand offered ongoing support to our customers needing the bigger feeder pillars for their projects.
Charles Endirect continues to innovate and provide quality products for the street lighting market and beyond. We’re looking forward to the next 40 years!’
