A BRIEF HISTORY OF CRESSALL

EARLY DAYS

The company was started in 1912 by two Birmingham brothers, initially to manufacture the asbestos resistor nets until then only produced in Germany.

Over the next twenty years the Cressall brothers extended their resistor range to include porcelain and mica elements as well as sterilisers, water heaters and battery chargers.

From 1939 the company, a reserved establishment, made welding resistors, radio nets and degaussing equipment to protect shipping from mines. A naval officer on a visit to the factory maintained that, for a time, the defence of Gibraltar had been entirely dependent on a piece of Cressall wiring.

During the fifties Cressall introduced wire wound rotary rheostats and vitreous enamel resistors. In 1955 we merged with rivals Expamet who had developed expanded metal resistors and the combined company now had Britain’s widest range of resistors and in 1957 launched their variable toroidal transformer.

In 1965 company changed its name to Cressall Printed Circuits and diversified into medical magnetic screening, printed circuits and electronics with an American partner.

MODERN TIMES

A much slimmed down Cressall was purchased by the Halma Group in 1990. Halma revived Cressall’s fortunes and in 1993 the company moved to Leicester. New products followed; neutral earthing resistors, portable load banks and standard dynamic braking resistors along with fresh investment in new machinery for mesh expanding, edge wiring, wire coiling and a complete sheet metal fabrication plant.
Such was Cressall’s success that they quickly went on to acquire the GEC Rugby, H A Birch and Eaton Cutler-Hammer resistor businesses, extending still further their range of resistor technologies. Incorporating GEC’s edge wound coils and Cutler-Hammer’s traction resistor expertise meant Cressall became by far the most important power resistor manufacturer in the UK.

UP TO THE MINUTE

In 2006 Telema SpA purchased a thriving Cressall and since then Cressall has benefitted from being an important part of the world’s leading power resistor group. Benefits that we pass on to our customers. An example is the revolutionary EV2 braking resistor.

Developed by Cressall using new materials and new manufacturing processes, it has reduced the footprint and increased the capacity of dynamic braking resistors and, in the process, opened up new applications for the twenty-first century.

CRESSALL'S CORPORATE STANDARDS

Quality
Cressall Resistors operates a Quality Management System approved to ISO 9001:2008 at both the main location in Leicester and the Transit and Special Projects division at Dereham.
DOWNLOADS:ISO 9001 Leicester and Dereham certificate • Cressall’s Quality Policy • OHSAS 18001 certificate

Health & Safety
Cressall Resistors Ltd is firmly committed to ensuring the welfare of its employees, customers and community. We manage all of our processes and activities with the aim of identifying all applicable hazards and Cressall promotes continual improvement based on both assessing the risks posed and the procedures documented within the system. Cressall Resistors operates a Health & Safety Management System approved to OHSAS18001:2007 at both the main location in Leicester and the Transit and Special Projects division at Dereham
DOWNLOADS: Health & Safety Policy • Register of HSE Legislation

Environmental Policy
Cressall Resistors recognises its responsibility to meet the requirements of its customers without unnecessary damage to the environment. This includes REACH Regulation 1907/2006 relating to the protection of human health and the environment.
DOWNLOADS: Reach Compliance.pdf • Cressall’s Environmental Policy

Environmental Manual
The Cressall Environmental Manual is available to customers, suppliers and employees by emailing our SHEQ Engineer or SHEQ Manager.
Privacy Statement
Cressall believes that when you share your personal information with us, it is our responsibility to live up to your trust by preserving your privacy.
DOWNLOADS: The Cressall Privacy statement.

Modern Day Slavery
DOWNLOADS: The Cressall Modern Day Slavery and Human Trafficking Policy.

Conflict Minerals
DOWNLOADS: The Cressall policy on conflict minerals.

Continuous Improvement
Cressall are committed to continuous improvement. If  there is anything you believe could be better with this site or in what we do, please contact us directly.