A Brief History
The business originated in the mid-war years in Failsworth, Manchester, operating from premises on Duke Street. From approximately 1934, it traded as E.Tongue (Failsworth) & Co. under Jimmy Tongue’s management for nearly 50 years until his retirement in 1982 due to ill health. During this period, the company earned a strong reputation for craftsmanship and reliability in the small batch subcontract engineering sector and contributed to the war effort in the early 1940s.
In late 1982, the business was acquired by John Glover, a highly experienced precision engineer. He revitalised the company, driving its rapid expansion in the manufacture of stainless steel pipe fittings. In October 1984, his younger son, Chris, a skilled pipe fitter/welder, joined the company. By December of that year, the decision was made to incorporate the business as E Tongue & Co. Limited.
The company quickly outgrew its Duke Street location, prompting a relocation to Reliance Trading Estate in Newton Heath, Manchester, about two miles away. This move necessitated new premises and the acquisition of CNC machinery to facilitate closer tolerance work under John’s supervision. These changes transformed the business, requiring additional financial and administrative support. Fortunately, John’s elder son, Stephen, a qualified chartered accountant, joined the firm in 1985 and was instrumental in helping to realise his father’s plans. With new machinery and a custom-designed factory, production significantly increased, leading to a 24/7 operation to meet demand. During the North Sea oil boom, the company’s expertise in machining stainless steel components was highly sought after, with new customers nationwide discovering where their components could be manufactured accurately, on time, and within budget.
As both businesses continued to expand, an opportunity to serve the specialised valve market emerged when Andrew Steeles joined the company in 1995. Andrew, an experienced salesman in the pipeline industry, initially proved his capabilities by successfully running BWT Fluid Engineering Limited, a third business.
Following Brian Chesworth’s retirement, the remaining three directors consolidated all the businesses into one entity. In August 2004, the company’s name was changed to G.C.Supplies UK Limited. A few months later, the integration of the three businesses was complete, establishing the current business structure.
In 2008, the stock and trade of Oppenheimer Engineering Services (OES) was acquired. OES were a well-established company specialising in stainless steel ball valves under the well-known and respected “NTC” brand. All stock was transferred to Newton Heath, where the business continued to operate, integrating the newly acquired NTC valve range with the existing ETG branded valve products.
In 2009, focus moved to expanding the NTC valve portfolio and the decision was made to divide the valve ranges into two sections. The existing ETG valve range would continue to provide economical solutions for simple valve requirements, while the NTC valve range would offer more upscale products incorporating features for specialised customer requirements, such as Fire Safe Testing and Certification, ATEX compliance and TA-Luft (fugitive emissions) certification. Later that year, the new NTC high-performance valve range was successfully launched. Since then, significant investments have been made in this range, adding further models to meet customer requirements.
New features such as Modulating V-Balls, High Performance Filled Seats and Extension Spindles ensure we can comprehensively and quickly satisfy all our customers’ needs from our Newton Heath warehouse.
To this end, new products are continuously researched and sourced to keep the NTC brand at the forefront of the UK valve market.
Stephen retired in July 2014 and his brother, Christopher, retired in December 2019. The business is now owned and operated by Andrew Steeles and his long suffering wife, Debbie.
