Founded in a Leicester garage in 1968.
Cromwell started as a tool shop in Leicester in 1968, selling cutting tools to the city's engineering firms. The idea was to stock everything a machine shop used up and deliver it the next day, which was unusual then and is the whole business now.
Today the group stocks 85,000 lines in a national distribution centre at Wigston, runs branches with trade counters across the UK, and makes its own brands, Kennedy, Kobe, York, Sherwood, SwissTech and Halo, to its own specification.
Cromwell is ISO 9001, 14001, 45001 and 27001 certified, a BSIF registered safety supplier, EcoVadis Gold, and an official partner of Leicester City Football Club for the 2026/27 season.
- 1968
- Founded, Leicester
- 85,000
- Lines in stock
- 98%
- Delivered next day
- 6
- Exclusive brands
- 4.4
- Trustpilot
- ISO 9001
- Quality, since 1994
Why buy from a distributor.
One account, one invoice, one van, for everything a plant uses up: gloves, drills, discs, bolts, oil. The catalogue is wide so your purchasing is narrow.
Next day, 98% of the time
Stocked lines ordered by 6pm are on the van that night and with you the next working day, UK mainland.
Trade pricing
Account holders see the trade price on every line, with volume breaks at 10 and 50. Thirty-day terms on approval.
Exclusive brands
Kennedy, Kobe, York, Sherwood, SwissTech and Halo: made to our specification, priced below the equivalent name brand.
Technical specialists
Cutting tools, safety and tooling engineers who come to the plant, trial the tool and write the report.