About US

From left: Jack Spooner, Albert Hopkins and Russell Williamson

The business was founded in 1951 by Jack Spooner, Albert Hopkins and Russell Williamson. They combined their first names into J. A. Russell Ltd.

Jack, Albert and Russell saw an opportunity to take up a cable agency and to start a new style of electrical wholesale business.

They began with an old house in Grafton Road, Auckland as their warehouse and office.

A high level of personal service to customers resulted in spectacular growth and the motto – still used in the business today – was born: The House for Top Service.

In the late 1960s the business came under the control of Jack Spooner and his wife June. Jack was joined in the company by his son Roger (in 1965) who, after gaining a grounding

in virtually every aspect of the business assumed the role of Managing Director. Roger’s brother John Spooner joined the business in 1977 and today the company is jointly owned between the Family Trusts of Roger Spooner and John Spooner. Roger and John still work in the business as do other family members really creating a good kiwi owned and operated family business. 

During the 1990s, with Roger Spooner and John Spooner at the helm, J. A. Russell embarked on a new phase of expansion acquiring branches in Waikato and Northland, and then a network in the Bay of Plenty.

In 2002, Craig Grammer was appointed to CEO. Subsequently J. A. Russell took the opportunity to acquire the business of Christchurch based Radcliffe Electrical, which provided an 18 branch network coverage in the South Island.

J. A. Russell's first invoice

Radcliffe Electrical was a strong, well established brand in the South Island and we continue to trade using the Radcliffe Electrical brand in the South Island.

In 2014, we acquired the 13 branch network of Stewarts Electrical Supplies, extending our branch coverage to include the Lower North Island. 

In April 2017, we took over the lease of the General Cable facility in Mt Wellington Highway, Auckland and procured four cable rolling machines allowing us to offer this service to our customer base and branch network.

In June 2017, the business acquired Swanson Electrical in Gisborne. This acquisition resulted in the addition of two more branches to the J. A. Russell Ltd network. The branches operate under the J. A. Russell Ltd brand.

Today we have 80 branches across the country and operate under 2 brands: J. A. Russell Ltd and Radcliffe Electrical. We have been in business for over 71 years and are the largest New Zealand owned, electrical wholesaler in the country.  We employ over 800 staff, including over 100 sales reps on the road. We are passionate about the electrical industry and sincerely value our relationships with both our customers and suppliers..