The Company was founded in Manchester on the 12th November 1878 under the title of The Engine and Boiler Insurance Company with RB Longridge as Chairman and Michael Longridge (his nephew) as Chief Engineer. The Longridge family were established engineers at the beginning of the 19th Century. They were originally iron masters from Bedlington, Northumberland who also supplied castings and forgings. They were involved in the early development of industrial steam engines and were business partners with both George and Robert Stephenson. RB Longridge formed The Steam Boiler Assurance Company in 1859 but later resigned. Following his resignation, he formed The Engine and Boiler Insurance Company Limited. Within two years the name of the company was altered to The Engine, Boiler and Employers' Liability Company Limited. In 1903, its silver jubilee year, the title British Engine, Boiler and Electrical Insurance Company Limited was adopted until 1978 when the title was abbreviated to British Engine Insurance Limited. The family association with the company, was terminated in 1966 with the retirement of HM Longridge. The name of Longridge was perpetuated in the title of the Head Office building in Manchester- Longridge House, erected in 1959 on a site embracing that of the original Manchester Steam Users Association of which RB Longridge was Chief Inspector. Longridge House was demolished in 1997 due to the massive structural damage it sustained following the explosion of a bomb placed in a van, by the IRA, which had been parked outside the building. The Company Number was 14644, registered at Companies House in Scotland.

Sir William Fairbairn was born at Kelso, Scotland, in 1789. He was the son of a farmer. His initial schooling was at the local parish school where he learnt to read and studied arithmetic. He later studied book keeping under the guidance of his uncle. The family moved frequently to farms in North Scotland, North Yorkshire and Tyneside. In 1803, while living in Knaresborough, Fairbairn took his first job working on a bridge being built by John Rennie. He was injured in an accident. Later that year, the family moved to a farm belonging to Percy Main colliery, near Newcastle upon Tyne. Fairbairn began working at the colliery and, in 1804, he was apprenticed to John Robinson, a millwright. Fairbairn's technical ability led to him being appointed to look after the engines at Percy Main colliery. Here he became acquainted with George Stephenson. Fairbairn later worked with Stephenson's son Robert on the Britannia and Conway bridges over the Menai Strait. In March 1811, Fairbairn finished his apprenticeship and found work as a millwright in Newcastle. In December that year, he moved to London where he met Alexander Tillotson, the founder of the Philosophical Magazine. Tillotson was building a steam shovel and employed Fairbairn in its construction. By June 1816 he had moved again to Manchester and started to work on a replacement for the Blackfriars Bridge across the River Irwell. Following a disagreement with his employer, Fairbairn left the project and entered into a partnership with James Lillie, with whom he had previously worked as a millwright. Fairbairn and Lillie's first job was to supply machinery to a cotton mill. Their success in this venture meant that the company expanded rapidly, diversifying into the erection of watermills and the construction of light iron steam ships. A heavy loss in the cotton mill project resulted in Fairbairn and Lillie dissolving the partnership in 1832. Fairbairn concentrated on building light iron ships, initially in Manchester. He moved the business to Millwall, London, in 1835, entering into a partnership with an old pupil, Andrew Murray. In 1844 he abandoned the partnership and left Millwall to return to Manchester. The decline of the cotton industry in Manchester meant that Fairbairn's skills as a millwright were in low demand. He diversified into other areas of engineering and began working with John Hetherington on the Lancashire Boiler. Fairbairn also experimented with the properties of iron, and introduced a riveting machine into the boiler making process, to counteract the effects of a strike by his workforce. As well as designing and manufacturing boilers, Fairbairn was interested in safety at work, particularly the prevention of accidents caused by machinery. He initiated a boiler inspection service in response to the high numbers of people being killed or injured as a result of boiler explosions. This led to the establishment of the Manchester Steam Users’ Association in 1854, the same year that Fairbairn was elected president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Fairbairn was also president of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society from 1855 to 1860. He was an authority on mechanical engineering and published many works, including a handbook for engineers in 1856, an examination of the properties of iron in 1861, and a treatise on mills between 1861 and 1863. Having turned down a knighthood in 1861, Fairbairn became a Baronet in 1869. He lived in Ardwick from 1840 until his death in 1874.

The Manchester Steam Users’ Association was established in 1854 to prevent steam boiler explosions. It employed mechanical engineers to inspect the boilers of members who subscribed to the service. The service had been proposed by the engineer Sir William Fairbairn. It is considered to be the first boiler inspection authority in Britain. At the time of its establishment, there had been a considerable number of deaths and injuries from boiler explosions across the country. Between 1864 and 1874, 617 people were killed and 997 people injured as a result of boiler explosions. The Association aimed to avoid explosions at its members’ facilities through quality inspection and remedial works with a guarantee. Members included cotton manufacturers, metal founders, saw mills, builders, and locomotive manufacturers and operators. The Association proposed new legislation to the Home Secretary in 1876 to prevent loss of life from steam boiler explosions, and went on to draft The Boiler Explosion Bill which was first read in the House of Commons in 1881. The Association became part of British Engine Boiler & Electrical Insurance Co Ltd in 1932. Its headquarters were at Longridge House, a purpose built office block opened in 1959. The building was destroyed by the IRA bomb in 1996. British Engine Boiler & Electrical Insurance Co Ltd had been a subsidiary of Royal Insurance Co Ltd since 1912, and is now owned by Knapton Insurance Limited.