About Us

We are Barlows Electrical Retail LTD, A family run electrical retailer with over 75 years’ experience in the electrical industry. The company was established by Thomas Clifford Barlow in 1948. T.C. Barlow started the company as an electrical contracting business in the village of Malpas, Cheshire and it soon became apparent there was a need for a place for customers to take the new variety of labour saving appliances when they needed repair. Customers would bring repairs to ‘Cliff’s house’ and they were done in the evening after a full day of electrical installation had been completed.

A room in his home became the start of an electrical repair shop and contracting business in the village of Malpas, Cheshire. Since then it has steadily grown into a nationwide contractor who specialize is all aspects of building maintenance including electrical maintenance, alarm systems, appliance testing, domestic appliance repairs, TV and satellite repairs and installation, plumbing, heating and gas servicing, telecommunications, property maintenance, solar panel installation & electric vehicle (E.V) charging installations. Our head office is based at Hampton nr Malpas in Cheshire and we have regional offices in Manchester, High Wycombe and Lancaster. We also have an approved training centre and two trade counters within the company as well as our two retail stores.

Barlows Electrical Retail LTD

We currently have two retail stores based in North Shropshire, in the market towns of Whitchurch and Ellesmere. The retail section of the business operates with a dedicated team of employees old and new who strive on delivering the best service in the industry. Some of our staff have over 30 years in electrical retailing and our younger members have grown up with amazing technical advances and the ability to simplify and communicate these to customers has provided us with an added dimension. We have a delivery and installation team who are dedicated to getting your product to your home. We have our own warehouse which enables us to carry a large amount of items in stock at any one time.

We are members of Euronics (Europe’s largest electrical buying group) which means we get some phenomenal price advantages. We are also members of RETRA (The radio and electrical trade association) which provides customers who purchase from us assurance that we operate under strict codes of practice set up in conjunction with the Office of Fair Trading and the health and safety authorities. We are also part of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. The WEEE Directive aims to reduce the amount of electronic and electrical equipment being produced and to encourage people to recycle, reuse and recover it.

*Under the Waste Battery Regulations, Barlows Electrical Retail LTD are now offering a take back scheme for all portable waste batteries. You can return your waste batteries to our any of our retail stores. Alternatively, you can find your local waste portable battery recycling facility at www.recyclenow.co.uk.

We pride ourselves on offering the best possible service for the lowest possible price which is why our friendly staff are always on hand should you need them.

Barlows History

1948 – The Company was established by Thomas Clifford Barlow repairing kettles and irons at his home in the village of Malpas, Cheshire.
1961 – The company moved to a larger premises with a bigger workshop, they now had two vans and a 24 hour call out system.
1965– Saw Barlows opening a new shop in a high street location in Malpas to enable the company to expand as the electrical contracting developed.
1986 – By this time it was clear that a new premises was required due to the success of the High Street shop and the electrical contracting. A new shop was opened and the previous outlet remained open as a workshop to cope with the demand for repairs. This store is still open today to serve the village and surrounding areas.
1986 – We became a member of Euronics; Europe’s largest electrical retailer, which has given us the immense buying power across a wide range of manufacturers. This means we can pass great savings onto the customer giving them the best price possible.
1982 – Barlows Electrical becomes an NICEIC approved contractor in March 1982. The NICEIC is a leading voluntary regulatory body for the electrical contracting industry and all approved contractors work is completed to the highest of standards. In the 1980’s the company had 10 vans on the road to deal with the increase in domestic and commercial clients.
Early 1980’s – Our second High Street store ‘Barlows Whitchurch’ was opened. This was also used as an office for our expanding contracting section.
1990’s – By the 90’s Barlows contracting had its own testing department and a NACOSS security alarm division.
1992 – Our third store is opened in Ellesmere, Shropshire.
1993 – Barlows Electrical contracting becomes a limited company and is now classed as Barlows UK LTD. The retail division becomes a partnership under ‘Barlows Electrical’
1998 – Due to the combined expansion Barlows combines its Malpas and Whitchurch offices and opens its headquarters on the Hampton Industrial Estate in Malpas. This location is perfect for servicing clients in the North West of England, Wales and the Midlands. The company also opens its own on site wholesale trade warehouse. All three retail stores remain open and are still trading today.
2005 – Barlows UK LTD opens its first regional branch in Chadderton, Manchester offering a full range of electrical services to Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Yorkshire.
2008 – Work begins on a building a new office for Barlows UK LTD on the Hampton Industrial Estate due to increased expansion. All contracting divisions are moved to the new headquarters. The old Barlows building undergoes a facelift and later becomes the City & Guilds training academy and allows the supplies department to further develop.
2010 – Barlows training academy is opened and goes on to be recognised in a series of regional and nationwide awards including being voted as the City and Guilds Top 100 Apprentice Employer in 2012,2013 & 2014. The academy offers City and Guilds electrical apprentices and also runs a range of health and safety courses.
2013 – The company celebrated 65 years and our ‘retro’ anniversary Mini van was commissioned to celebrate.
2015 - Barlows becomes a multi-award winning company scooping The High Sheriffs Award for Enterprise, for Training, Development and Opportunity for Young People, The North West Chamber of Commerce People Development Award, The Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Medium Size Company of the Year Award and Cheshire Business Person of the Year Award!
2015 - Also sees the opening of the new Fire & Security office to house the existing department due to its rapid expansion.
2016- Barlows has grown to 300 staff and over 200 vehicles with contracts across the UK. We have two main offices in Cheshire and Manchester each with its own trade supplies department and a training academy. We continued our success by picking up more awards in 2016 by winning Employer of the Year at the Cheshire Business Awards. We also were awarded The High Sheriffs award for Enterprise for training, development and opportunity for young people.
November 2016 – See’s Barlows (UK) continue to expand by opening a new office in High Wycombe.
April 2017 – Barlows UK LTD continue to expand with the opening of our latest office in Lancaster. The new office follows from the success of the High Wycombe branch. These new branches enable us to get close and have quicker access to our customers in these areas, improving our service.
November 2017 saw the opening of our Fire & Security division in High Wycombe following the success of the electrical department in the South. We also had more success in the High Sheriff’s Awards, we were awarded the Roberts Bakery Family Award for Excellence. You can read all about our awards for 2016/17 here.
2018 Saw the continued growth of our Fire & Security department ibe Office. We were awarded the Employer of the Year for the second time at the Cheshire Business Awards 2018.
2023 Barlows Electrical partnership transistions to a LTD company trading as Barlows Electrical Retail LTD.