[In the banner image above – a homage to the legacy of Northpoint’ss endurance over 50 years. The sponsoring Aquilla Bikes for Moto2 (1 below MotoGP) back in 1999. Also, Northpoint sponsors local football team!]
In 1976, Britain was a country of industrial transition. While the nation sweltered under the hottest summer on record and the first commercial Concorde flights took to the skies, a smaller, more specialised revolution was taking place in Stockport, Cheshire. At the time, the engineering and industrial sectors were facing a recurring problem: metal components were failing prematurely due to inadequate protection. A clear gap had emerged in the North West market for a provider that could marry high-spec protective coatings with the commercial necessity of a fast turnaround.
Northpoint was established to bridge that gap.
1976–1987: The Stockport Origins & The Move to Tameside
The “1976 Archive” isn’t merely a retrospective; it is a celebration of a business model that has refused to compromise for half a century. From our original base in Stockport, Northpoint’s reputation was forged on two non-negotiable pillars: unrivalled coating quality and a rapid turnaround time. As the UK’s manufacturing landscape evolved, so did we. Our trajectory across Greater Manchester tells the story of our growth:
Two years on from 1976, Northpoint moved to Altrincham on Viaduct Road. Early 1984 saw the strategic expansion into Trafford Park, placing us at the heart of one of Europe’s largest industrial estates.
1989: The milestone relocation to our current home in Dukinfield, Cheshire.
For nearly 40 years, our Dukinfield site has served as the engine room for our operations. It was here that we transitioned from a regional coater to a national specialist, providing a central hub for the UK’s infrastructure and engineering elite.
The 1990s: Mastering the “Sellafield Standard”
By the mid-1990s, under the leadership of Managing Director Gary Howse, Northpoint moved beyond standard applications to solve complex, high-stakes infrastructural challenges.
This era marked our transition into a Tier-1 specialist. We secured significant contracts for the fencing surrounding the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant—a project that demanded a level of durability and corrosion resistance that few in the UK could match.
This period cemented our status as the established authority in two core disciplines that remain our “bread and butter” today:
- High-Security Fence Coating: Ensuring long-term integrity for critical national infrastructure.
- FBE Coating (Fusion Bonded Epoxy): Perfecting the deep fluid bed coating of pipes and fittings, a technical process essential for the water, gas, and oil industries.
We also partner with urban infrastructure companies, such as SGI (Safety Glass Industries Ltd), to provide professional powder coating solutions. Discover how we help infrastructure companies.
2019: A Legacy Owned by the People
Perhaps the most significant chapter in the Archive arrived in 2019. Having steered the company through the global economic volatility of the late 2000s, our Board of Directors—Garry Marshall, Simon Quiligotti, Philip Dawson, and Howard Tomes—made a visionary decision for the company’s future.
They decided that the people who built Northpoint’s reputation should be the ones to own it.
The Northpoint Values
We use our values as our North Star, guiding us to make the correct decisions no matter what we do. Our values are:
- To be a responsible business, always meeting quality, regulatory and ethical standards
- To be a part of a community of suppliers and customers, working towards developing shared understanding and knowledge
- We expect all people who work for Northpoint Ltd including contractors, consultants and agencies to be governed by the principles of ‘fair business’
- To provide a platform for learning and development opportunities to our people
- To be a profitable business
Northpoint became an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).
This transition changed the DNA of the business. Today, when you partner with Northpoint, you aren’t just dealing with a supplier; you are working with a team of owners. From thermal stripping and shot blasting to wet paint services and sheet metal coating, every process is overseen by a workforce with a literal stake in the perfection of the finish.
Our team is committed to taking Northpoint onwards and upwards, creating a business that is always looking to improve.
Want to meet the team behind Northpoint Ltd?
Inside the Archive: Did You Know?
In 1976, powder coating was still a relatively “young” technology in the UK. Northpoint was one of the early adopters in the North West, helping to pivot the industry away from traditional, less-durable liquid paints toward the resilient, eco-friendly powder finishes we use today.
In addition, our current Directors, Tony and Phil, have been with the company since 1984 (the Trafford Park years!).
Our Commitment to Learning
We are committed to learning innovative technologies and processes to deliver the best possible service. We share these learnings with our customers through blogs, technical guides and case studies, to help educate and support them. Explore our learning resources below:
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