Through the Retrospectascope: 46 Years in UK Automation and Control
46 Years, One Argument, Still Right: Why Direct Sourcing Beats a Brand Premium
Malcolm Greenhill | Charter Controls
Executive Summary
After 46 years in the UK automation and control industry, Malcolm Greenhill reflects on the technologies that transformed panel building, the relationships that shaped Charter Controls, and why one principle has remained constant throughout his career: sound engineering matters more than brand prestige.
Drawing on decades of direct sourcing and manufacturer partnerships, he explains why carefully selected OEM products can deliver the same reliability and performance as many premium-branded alternatives, while providing genuine commercial advantages for panel builders, machine builders and system integrators.
46 Years, One Argument, Still Right
For more than 46 years, Malcolm Greenhill has sourced automation and control components directly from manufacturers rather than through multiple layers of distribution. Looking back through what he calls the retrospectascope, his conclusion has never changed: engineering quality is determined by design, manufacturing, testing and verification, not simply by the name printed on the label.
Throughout that time, Charter Controls has helped UK panel builders, machine builders and system integrators obtain carefully selected OEM products that frequently originate from the same manufacturing base as many premium European brands, but without paying a premium simply for the badge.
The Journey Begins
Malcolm's own journey in this industry began in 1981, when he started his first company. The office was a garage and the warehouse was his basement. The tools were a telephone, a typewriter and a Rolodex. The mobile office was a box of A-Z maps on the back seat of the car and a bag of coins for the nearest phone box.
There was no satnav, no mobile phone and no cloud-based CRM. His page-a-day diaries from those years show schedules of up to seven customer visits a day. The roads were quieter then and people were more receptive. Customers generally welcomed sales visits rather than screening them, business felt less pressured and people actually stopped for lunch.
Those early years also ran on relationships built at trade shows through the 1980s and 1990s. Real relationships were built with customers, competitors and manufacturers' representatives, and some of those relationships shaped Charter Controls far more than any strategy document ever could.
Watching the Technology Curve, Twice
The UK automation and control industry has, in Malcolm's experience, always been conservative by nature and inherently resistant to change. Very few new technologies have been embraced wholeheartedly from the outset.
Take the PLC. Back in 1969, theModicon 084 was introduced as a modern digital controller. It was not until the mid-1970s, when Allen-Bradley coined the term programmable logic controller, that the technology began to gain real traction.
Even then, adoption started slowly, primarily in large-scale automotive manufacturing, before gradually filtering down into smaller applications as confidence and familiarity grew. Malcolm saw the same pattern of hesitation followed by gradual acceptance play out again with the Siemens LOGO Smart Relay in the mid-1990s.
Designed to bridge the gap between full PLC systems and traditional relay logic, it was an elegant piece of engineering. Yet even today, good old relay logic endures in control systems throughout the industry.
Similarly, WAGO introduced its DIN rail terminals with spring-pressure cage clamp terminals back in 1977. These offered a genuinely superior alternative to screw terminals in many applications, with more secure, maintenance-free connections and, in many cases, reduced installation time and cost.
Decades later, screw terminals remain the default in a great many control panels. That says something important about the pace of change in automation and control.
Why Direct Sourcing Beats a Brand Premium
As Charter Controls grew, so did its sourcing. Over the past 15 years, Malcolm has travelled extensively across China and India, evaluating manufacturers against Charter Controls' own standards through rigorous testing and careful due diligence.
One of the most significant relationships to emerge from that work was with General Industrial Controls, also known as GIC, a family-owned manufacturer based in Pune, India. Its leadership team was educated in the United States, and its engineering standards reflect a genuinely global outlook.
Charter Controls has distributed GIC products in the UK since 2010. At that time, Malcolm personally specified the requirements for what became GIC's best-selling electronic timer, the 1CMDT0 electronic timer, a product now sold globally under multiple brand names.
That experience sits behind the argument Malcolm has advocated for most of his career: there has always been a perceived safety in specifying from well-known Europe-based global brands, and, if we are honest, a degree of brand preference that does not always reflect what is actually inside the product.
The reality is that, in many cases, identical or near-identical components are manufactured by OEMs and simply rebranded by larger names. Take Shenler relays, which Charter Controls supplies directly. Look closely and the product may be recognisable under a different label from a major brand.
For many buyers, discovering that identical or near-identical components are manufactured by the same OEM before being rebranded by larger organisations comes as a surprise. Malcolm believes purchasing decisions should be based on engineering quality, certification, technical support and supplier due diligence, not marketing budgets or brand familiarity.
Every manufacturer represented by Charter Controls undergoes extensive technical evaluation before products are introduced to the UK market. Many operate internationally recognised quality management systems, including ISO 9001:2015 certification, giving customers confidence that product quality is supported by robust manufacturing processes as well as Charter Controls' own technical due diligence.
Charter Controls recently concluded an arrangement with a significant UK engineering group that had understood this principle clearly. Having recognised the potential savings, the group chose to standardise on OEM-branded product supplied through Charter Controls. The result is a meaningful cost advantage, not just for them, but for their customers downstream.
The component that manages heat in an enclosure, handles power distribution, or provides the communications layer between field devices and the control system, does not require a premium brand to perform. What it requires is sound engineering, appropriate certification, and a supplier who has done the due diligence properly.
The Categories That Matter Most
The same principle holds across the categories that matter most to the automation and control sector, including power management, terminals and connectors, thermal and environmental management, protection relays, timers, HMIs and industrial communications.
For panel builders, machine builders and system integrators, the question is not whether the name on the front is familiar. The question is whether the product is properly engineered, properly certified, properly verified and properly supported.
What Does the Future Hold?
Looking ahead, Malcolm sees several forces that will test the industry more acutely in the next decade than at any point in the previous four and a half.
The convergence of control panel-level hardware with IIoT communications infrastructure is accelerating, and the skills required to specify, build and commission increasingly intelligent panels are changing with it.
Sustainability obligations on energy efficiency, materials and the full system life cycle are coming, whether the industry is ready or not. Supply chain resilience, a lesson learned sharply in recent years, will also continue to shape sourcing decisions at every level.
At the same time, customers are demanding shorter lead times, greater supply-chain resilience and better long-term value. Malcolm believes these pressures will continue to favour organisations capable of combining high-quality OEM manufacturing with local engineering support and UK stock availability.
The conservative tendency Malcolm describes at the outset will, he suspects, be tested rather more severely in the years ahead than it has been in previous years.
A Solid Legacy
What gives Malcolm considerable confidence is that the business he built is now in the hands of two people who understand it completely. His sons, Murray Greenhill and Ross Greenhill, became joint Managing Directors of Charter Controls in April 2026, and what they carry forward is not simply a company. It is a philosophy.
That philosophy is that the quality which matters to panel builders, machine builders and system integrators does not need to carry a major brand premium to be real. OEM product, properly sourced and properly verified, is in many cases precisely as good. The savings that flow from that approach are genuine, compounding and increasingly recognised across the industry.
Charter Controls was built on that argument. As the next generation takes it further, with better tools, better data and better reach than I had starting out with a bag of coins and a box of maps, I find I am genuinely optimistic about where it goes.
The industry is still conservative. It probably always will be. But the case for honest, direct sourcing has never been stronger, and Malcolm leaves it in good hands.
Key Takeaways for Panel Builders, Machine Builders and System Integrators
- Direct sourcing helps reduce cost by removing unnecessary layers of distribution.
- Proven engineering and supplier due diligence matter more than brand familiarity alone.
- OEM-branded products can offer strong value when they are properly sourced, tested and supported.
- Automation and control adoption often moves slowly, even when new technologies offer clear practical benefits.
- IIoT, sustainability and supply chain resilience are likely to shape the next phase of UK control panel design and component sourcing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does direct sourcing mean at Charter Controls?
Charter Controls works directly with carefully selected manufacturers rather than buying through multiple layers of distribution. This allows customers to purchase high-quality OEM products, often originating from the same manufacturing base as premium-branded alternatives, supported by UK technical expertise, local stock and competitive pricing.
Are OEM-sourced components as reliable as premium brands?
OEM-sourced components can be highly reliable when they are properly engineered, certified, tested and supported. Charter Controls evaluates manufacturers carefully before introducing products to the UK market.
Who leads Charter Controls today?
Murray Greenhill and Ross Greenhill became joint Managing Directors of Charter Controls in April 2026, succeeding founder Malcolm Greenhill after 46 years.
What trends will affect control panels in the next decade?
The article points to IIoT communications infrastructure, increasingly intelligent panels, sustainability obligations and supply chain resilience as important forces shaping the future.
Talk to Charter Controls
If you are reviewing automation suppliers, looking to reduce panel costs without compromising reliability, or exploring alternatives to premium-branded components, our engineers would be pleased to help.
Call 01424 850660 to discuss your application or browse the Charter Controls product range online.
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