In 1942 the North Bar Tool Company (as Norbar was then known), 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 wartime Government to begin the 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. Norbar is owned solely by the descendants of the founder, Bill Brodey, and they remain every bit as passionate about providing customers with high-quality, value-for-money products and services. Norbar is the only torque equipment manufacturer to be able to offer tool and instrument recalibration services to the original factory standard on four continents. The NATA-accredited laboratory in Adelaide, South Australia and NVLAP-accredited laboratory in Willoughby, Ohio, USA use the same equipment and procedures as the factory's UKAS-accredited laboratory. The new SAC-SINGLAS laboratory in Singapore now has the same facilities for Asian customers. In addition to this, most of Norbar's distributors offer repair and recalibration services and several have calibration accreditation by their local standards organisations.