Mathers foundry sold
THE historic Mathers foundry at Newton Heath in north Manchester has been sold to Indian engineering company WPIL.
Mathers, which makes steel castings used in pumps, valves, compressors and other equipment, was formed in Salford in 1817 during the early days of the Industrial Revolution and has sat on its current 50-acre site on Grimshaw Lane in Newton Heath since 1900. It was bought by West Midlands-based engineering firm Westley Group in 2008 from Weir Pumps.
New owner WPIL is a pumps manufacturing firm which is listed on the Mumbai Stock Exchange.
Westley Group’s commercial director, Rob Salisbury, said: ‘We are very pleased to have been responsible for the development of Mathers Foundry.
“Mathers have a core competence of manufacturing complex, high grade steel alloys for use in challenging environments, which exactly complements the WPIL Group of companies.
“We are incredibly proud to have worked with the management team and all of the dedicated employees in Mathers Foundry and we shall enjoy watching Mathers succeed under WPIL.”
Westley said the sale would also allow it to focus resources on its other group companies – Spunalloys, Westleys, JT Price, Francis Birkett and Walter Frank.
