Matthew And Son Engineering may not sound as romantic as the famous musician or the song – Matthew and Son – that made Cat Stevens a household name to those from that era, but it does have the same longevity as the song. The manufacturing and fabrication engineering business recently celebrated its 40th anniversary as a company after being established by Matthew Mayhew Snr in 1981.

Mayhew comes from a long lineage of Mayhew men involved in the metalworking engineering industry. His father had been in the foundry and scrap metal business for many years and grandfather Harry Mayhew had a foundry that was located in Eloff Street, Johannesburg. Mayhew is one of five brothers, all of them involved in engineering manufacturing or distribution of engineering products. Mayhew’s son, who also goes by the name of Matthew, joined the company in 2009 and is now managing the company.

Matthew Mayhew senior and junior

The early pictorial history of the company shows Mayhew, like many others before him, operating from residential premises, before moving to a factory environment. The company made its first move to rented premises as early as its first year of existence. The industrial area that Matthew And Son moved to – Sebenza, Gauteng – is still the area it is located in today. During this time there were only two moves required because of expansion before settling in its own factory that Matthew Snr had purchased and renovated in 2001.

The factory has recently undergone improvements, major renovations and alterations to modernise the facility, improve workflow, allow for expansion and to increase floor space for new CNC equipment.

As with any metal machining operation, Mayhew has seen plenty of projects come through the door both for general engineering and production runs. The work has focused mainly on milling and turning operations and this still forms the core of the business.

The company CNC machines components for some large corporates that are involved in the mining, rail transport, automotive, water and paper industries.

Currently Matthew And Son are investing in more multi-axis machines in order to increase capacity as they are experiencing a higher demand for components, turnaround times and tolerances. The company has purchased three new CNC machines in the last two years and has on order a new Doosan Lynx 2100 LSY II horizontal turning machine with a sub-spindle and Y axis, which will join another Doosan Lynx 2100 LSX that the company has just acquired.

Keeping it in the family, Patricia Mayhew, who is the Financial Director has been with the company since inception in 1981.

King Bull Industrial Supplies and Sales
A sister company is King Bull Industrial Supplies and Sales, an importer and distributor of threading tools (taps and forming taps) manufactured by German specialist manufacturer Schumacher Precision Tools GmbH. It has developed and manufactured a range of soft jaws for use on lathe chucks and a range of hand tap wrenches, South African designed and manufactured. Both the soft jaws and the hand tap wrenches are manufactured by Matthew And Son Engineering.

For further details contact Matthew And Son on TEL: 011 609 5603 or visit www.matthewandson.net