AJ Hurst - Our Story

Looking ahead to the future we always remember where we came from. This is our story.

Mark Goldsbrough

Director

1936 - 1970

The Early Years

Every story has a beginning and ours started in a small office in College Square Gardens, Belfast in 1936 when Mr. Alfred Hurst and his daughter began trading as an electrical wholesaler. Sadly in 1947 Mr. Hurst died and our grandfather Geoffrey Goldsbrough bought the business. Geoffrey was an auctioneer with little knowledge or experience of the electrical industry but that did not deter him. With his confident demeanor and enterprising skills, he embraced the challenge. Growing the business by acquiring new agencies including CA Parsons (turbine manufacturers), A Reyrolle & Co (industrial plugs and sockets). In 1958 Geoffrey’s son, also called Geoff joined the business from Farrans. Together with his father, they acquired some mechanical agencies to widen the product offering. Successful partnerships with Dorr Oliver (Sewage Treatment) and Weir Pumps led to lucrative contracts with the NI Water Service.

1970-1990

Facing Challenges

The political unrest in Northern Ireland in the 1970’s affected every business including ours. College Square North, were we continued to trade was now known as ‘Bomb Alley’. Daily bomb scares, shootings and a devastating petrol bomb forced us to relocate from the city centre. Our building which was once valued at £60k was now worthless.
Frances Street, Newtownards became our new base and we expanded our product range to include lighting from Concord and Zumtobel. Business remained challenging and when De Lorean Motor Company went into liquidation owing us a large sum of money we thought we would not survive. Banks were unable to help, cash flow was drying up but help came from an unlikely source.
Our main supplier, Telemecanique (now Schneider Electric) valued our working relationship and wanted to help. They froze our existing accounts and let us pay back the money over 18 months while continuing to trade with a new account. This is why we are still here today.

1990 – 2010

New Beginnings

Another move to Duncrue Crescent in Belfast was the start of a period of significant growth. Back in Belfast with easy access to motorways meant we could widen our customer base. Partnerships with Static Systems launched us into the healthcare market and with Lutron the leisure industry. We also established ourselves in the energy efficient lighting market with partnerships with Dextra Lighting.
During this time the third generation of the family joined the business – Mark Goldsbrough (now Sales Director) and Lisa Kitchen (Managing Director). Staff levels increased as did turnover but key to our success was the relationships we nurtured with our customers and suppliers.

2010 -2023

Expansion and Innovation

In 2010 we purchased larger premises in Dargan Crescent and we remain here today. Our 50+ year partnership with Schneider Electric continues to flourish and we have now become an Alliance Partner. The partnership comes with the completion of an extensive certification program in addition to having Schneider Electric trained experts based locally and qualified in automation and control solutions.

The future

As a team we will continue to strengthen existing relationships with suppliers and customers as well as sourcing new products to bring to the market. We are investing in technology to help improve the service we offer

‘We may have accomplished a lot in 87 years but what matters most is what we do next . . . ‘