In 1942, Norbar became the first company in Britain to commercially manufacture a torque wrench. The initial demand was driven by the need for the gasket-less cylinder head of the Rolls Royce Merlin engine to be accurately tightened. Bill Brodey and his partner Ernest Thornitt obtained a license from Britain's war-time Government to begin manufacture of torque wrenches and Norbar was born.
Since then, Norbar has continued to invest in the very latest design, manufacturing and quality control technology to achieve the highest level of innovation and precision in the field of torque control equipment.

The company has grown from strength to strength and now has one of the largest and most modern plants in the world devoted exclusively to the design, development and production of torque tightening and measuring equipment.