City Electric Supply Vs City Electrical Factors: Are They The Same Company?

You may have come across City Electric Supply (CES) and/or City Electrical Factors (CEF), whether while working in electrical contracting or lighting design. Perhaps you just needed a wire or circuit breaker late at night, or maybe you looked one up and got results for the other. Their names almost sound like twins separated at birth. But they're actually separated by an ocean. Are they the same company? Sort of. But not exactly. They share roots, leadership, and ownership, yet operate in different markets with distinct brands.

City Electrical Factors (CEF) is based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1951 by Tom Mackie. CEF started with a single store in Coventry. Over the decades, it has grown into a large wholesale electrical network. It has hundreds of outlets across the UK, and is expanding into Ireland, Spain, and Australia. Its core is supplying electrical wholesale to trade customers.

City Electric Supply (CES), on the other hand, is its sibling across the pond. CES is the US and Canada-based arm of the same broader enterprise. It is also family-owned and founded by Tom Mackie. But it operates under a different brand in North America. The first CES branch in the U.S. opened in 1983. It has hundreds of branches in North America. This means thousands of employees, many fulfillment centers, and manufacturing brands. As you'll see, their histories, operations, and identity overlap but also diverge in key ways.

Tom Mackie founded City Electrical Factors in the UK in 1951. He built the business by expanding the store count. CEF became the UK's leading electrical wholesale network. CES's beginnings came late in 1983. This was when the expansion into North America began. It was not a brand-new, unrelated startup. It was an expansion of the same group under Tom Mackie. It used family ownership and leveraged the business model that worked in the UK.

Despite operating under different banners, their governance overlaps. The ownership is under the same Mackie family and the wider Labora Global group. They hold or govern both CES and CEF. In 2023, Thomas Hartland-Mackie, the grandson of founder Tom Mackie, stepped into a senior leadership role serving both CES and CEF, taking on the role of Executive Chairman of CES in North America and CEF in the UK. While these stores won't install your new circuit breaker, they're major sources for the parts and equipment electricians need to get the job done."

Although CES and CEF share leadership, they remain separate legal entities, each operating within its own region with distinct business practices, including different local supply chains, regulations, pricing strategies, customer service modalities, and regional brands. They are not separate, unrelated companies. But they are not exactly identical entities, either.