Harwin Welcomes KEC to the Family

We have officially announced the acquisition of the EMC interconnect backshell specialist KEC, bringing its products, operations and team into the Harwin family.

KEC are a brand with exceptional heritage and trust behind it, so we thought it important to set out what this meant: not just for our customers and for our offering, but for the customers of KEC.

Many of our customers will be well aware of the KEC brand. Like Harwin, it is a company with a reputation for creating exceptionally rugged interconnect technologies for the aerospace, defence and high-end industrial sectors.

Like Harwin, it is UK-headquartered. And like Harwin, it has a long-standing commitment to quality: certified to ISO9001 and EN9100, with this commitment backed by decades of stable management and continuous innovation.

The company’s products sit right alongside our HRi connectors in a huge number of systems: with circular and D-type EMC backshells, glands and panel fittings, as well as fully bespoke solutions that conform to the most exacting standards.

All this makes KEC a very strategic fit for Harwin. The acquisition itself broadens our product offering and strengthens the position in high-reliability sectors such as the aerospace and defence markets; notably adding exceptional technical expertise to deliver advanced EMC shielding.

We are fully aware of the heritage and values that have made KEC a success throughout its 47-year history and will actively ensure these continue.

As Cheryl Watson, managing director of KEC, noted: “We wanted to find a home where our people, our customers and our values would be respected.

Harwin is a fantastic British engineering success story, and we genuinely believe they are the right custodians to take KEC forward.”

Robin Kent, sales and marketing director added: “Throughout the process there was genuine respect for what David [Dyson, KEC chair] and Cheryl had built over the last four decades. That gave me real confidence, and I’m incredibly excited about what we can achieve together as part of the Harwin group.”

This commitment and excitement is shared across Harwin's executive leadership team. Harwin CEO, Andrew McQuilken has said: “We are committed to investing for the long term, preserving what has made KEC successful, and creating new opportunities for its employees and customers around the world.”

And Harwin’s executive chair, William de Laszlo has backed this up, saying: “We are incredibly honoured that David and Cheryl entrusted us with the company they have spent more than four decades building.

Through this acquisition Harwin has become the custodian of an exceptional British engineering business. By protecting the KEC heritage while investing in its future, our ambition is to grow KEC for the long term.”

In short, existing KEC customers will have access to the same rugged backshells, panel fittings, and custom capabilities. KEC staff will operate with the same trust, backing, and core values. And this will be backed through a commitment to invest in KEC’s people and technology to ensure decades more stability.

As David Dyson, KEC chair said: “I have been at the helm of KEC since its founding in 1979, and it wasn’t an easy decision to let go. We chose Harwin as our acquisition partner because of their shared belief in British engineering and manufacturing, and the reputation that comes with the Harwin name. I know KEC is in safe hands and that gives me enormous confidence for its future.”