Electronics
China is the world's electronics workshop. We help UK businesses source components and finished electronics directly from real manufacturers, with the certification and quality checks that keep your product compliant and your reputation intact.
Electronics is the category where the gap between a good supplier and a bad one is widest. The components are hard to inspect visually, the certification paperwork is easy to fake, and a great many listings that describe themselves as manufacturers are resellers adding a margin to someone else's product. The saving from going factory-direct is real, but only if you are actually reaching the factory.
That is where most of our work in this category goes. We confirm the supplier genuinely manufactures what they are selling, verify certificates and test reports against the issuing body rather than taking a PDF at face value, and sample before committing to a bulk run. If you are bringing a proprietary design, we also cover how the tooling and drawings are handled contractually before they leave your hands.
What we source
- PCBs and electronic assemblies
- Consumer electronics and devices
- EV charging components and infrastructure
- Cables, connectors and wiring
- Enclosures and housings
- LED lighting
What to consider
- Electronics usually need CE / UKCA and safety compliance — we verify certificates and test reports before ordering.
- It pays to confirm you are dealing with a genuine manufacturer, not a reseller, and to protect any proprietary design.
- Component substitution is the most common quality failure in this category, so the specification names the parts that may not be swapped.
- Anything mains-powered needs the correct UK plug, voltage and safety spec designed in from the start, not adapted afterwards.
Common questions
How do you make sure electronics are compliant?
We verify the required certifications (such as CE / UKCA) and test reports as part of sourcing, and sample before bulk. See our guide on certifications.
How do I know the supplier is a real factory?
We check business registration and production scope, and where the order justifies it we arrange an audit of the actual production line. Our guide on telling factories from trading companies covers the signals we look for.
Can I protect my own design?
To a meaningful degree, yes — through supplier selection, contractual terms and how tooling ownership is agreed before production. No arrangement is absolute, so we are frank about where the residual risk sits.
Related guides
- Sourcing electronics from China: a UK buyer's guideCertification, safety and security obligations make electronics the highest-admin category to import. What to specify, test and document.
- PSTI: importing smart and connectable products into the UKAnything that connects to the internet or another device needs a statement of compliance before you can sell it. What importers must hold, and what to ask the factory for.
- CE, UKCA and ISO: which certifications you needWhat these marks mean, the current UK position on CE vs UKCA, and how to check a factory's certificates are genuine.
- How to tell a real factory from a trading companyA trading company buys from factories and resells to you. Check the business licence and its registered scope against the official Chinese register, then ask for a live video walk of the line.
- Protecting your IP and tooling when sourcingPractical steps to reduce the risk of your design, brand or moulds being copied when you manufacture in China.