Walter T Glover established his wire manufacturing company in 1868, occupying premises at the Bridgewater Street Iron Works in Salford. W T Glover & Co, known as Glover’s, originally made cotton-covered and braided, insulated copper wires for use on bell, signalling and telephone circuits. As trade developed, the company moved to the Springfield Lane Cable Works in 1880. At this time, factories and larger private homes were beginning to install electric lighting, which required better insulated cable. Glover's started to manufacture cables covered with between one and three layers of rubber strip, waterproof tape and compounded cotton braid. In the late 1880s, Glover's began to make lead-sheathed cables for underground use. The company became a limited company and moved to Trafford Park in 1898, securing the exclusive rights for the supply of electricity to all the roads, streets and premises of Trafford Park. In June 1919, Vickers Ltd took over Glover's. Although Vickers held most of the shares, Glover's kept its name and management. In 1929 the Vickers group reorganised and sold its shares in Glover's to Sir Tom Callendar of Callendar Cable and Construction Co. Some shares later went to W. T. Henley's Telegraph Works Ltd. and British Insulated Cables. In 1945, Glover’s became part of British Insulated Callenders Cables Limited, following the merger of Callenders Cable and Construction Co and British Insulated Cables. During the 1950s, Glover’s developed high voltage submarine power cables, used to link centres of population with sources of generation. The parent company formed a subsidiary, BIC (Submarine) Cables Ltd, to manufacture and install the Glover’s cables. Glover's submarine cables linked England and France, and the north and south islands of New Zealand. Increasing competition from other cable manufacturing companies resulted in the south side of Glover’s Trafford Parks works integrating with the newly formed Wiring and General Cables Division of the British Insulated Cables Company (BICC). The Trafford Park factory closed in 1970, but the Glover’s brand continued as part of BICC.

Richard Johnson and Nephew were a firm of ironmasters and wire drawers based in Bradford, Manchester, with a heritage dating back to 1773. They revolutionised the wire industry with the introduction of the first continuous galvanising plant in 1860 and later with the world's first successful continuous rod rolling mill in 1862. These machines sped up the wire-making process at a time when demand was rising rapidly. The company supplied wire for a range of uses, including galvanised armouring wire for submarine cables, and for use in suspension bridges including one at Niagara. In 1877, the company bought the sole licence to manufacture barbed wire under patent across Britain. The company later supplied over 60% of the steel-cored aluminium conductors for the National Grid. In 1973, Richard Johnson & Nephew merged with Thomas Firth & John Brown Ltd, becoming Johnson & Firth Brown. The Bradford Works closed in 1986.