WEBCO TOOLS is a wholly owned South African company. The company was established as Burns Rivers & Co. (Pty) Ltd in 1905 and has been trading as a mining supply company ever since.
In 1905 Mr Burns and Mr Rivers came to South Africa and established the company to supply goods to the down town Johannesburg mining industry, namely City Deep, Crown Mines, Village Main, Simmer & Jack and E.R.P.M. In the early years, Burns Rivers imported and sold Chesterman measuring equipment, Cadbury’s chocolate called Fry’s chocolate in those days, Lyons Tea, Ricketts Blue and Royal Doulton smelting crucibles.
Both Mr Burns and Mr Rivers married South African woman, however, the two wives only produced daughters and subsequently the daughters husbands came into the business. Mr Allan and Mr Johnston became joint shareholders of the company at this point in time, Mr J.T Webster was employed to the organization. Burns Rivers also purchased and owned the property with the address of No. 56 Main Street Johannesburg, which today is the head office of Anglovaal Mining.
During the Second World War, Mr Allan was killed and Mr Johnston became the sole shareholder of Burns River.
In 1906 Rabone, a United Kingdom based measuring tape company bought Chesterman of Sheffield, and hence became known as Rabone Chesterman and were the world leaders in linear measuring equipment. Burns Rivers continued to supply the now extensive South African mining industry, including copper belt, collieries, diamond, gold and platinum mines.
In 1968 Mr Jack Webster bought the company from retiring Mr Johnston. In 1987 Burns Rivers made some strategic moves and decided to manufacture their measuring tools locally in South Africa. Mr Webster’s son, Craig Webster, embarked on the purchasing of capital equipment to be the first company to manufacture the full range of measuring.
In April 1990, WEBCO TOOLS was launched as a registered trade mark and brand due to Craig’s diversification from being purely a mining supplier for 85 years.
WEBCO has grown from strength to strength under the guidance of Craig Webster and his team and have established themselves as the leading measuring tool brand in Southern Africa.
WEBCO TOOLS has ISO 9002 certification and the EC Mark of Approval for the international accuracy requirements on their range of tools.
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From 1993 WEBCO embarked on an export drive for further customers and market diversification and exports to all Southern African countries as well as Mauritius, New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, Singapore, Poland and Taiwan.
WEBCO supplies all the mines in South Africa including Anglo Gold, Goldfields, Harmony, Impala Platinum, Amplats, Lohnro Mining, and also many mines in Ghana, Turkey and Ireland with their range of surveying and measuring equipment. Products include woven mining tapes, clino rules, survey pegs, survey spads, tripods, staves, measuring wheels, dumpy levels.
In 2001, WEBCO introduced a range of exiting new hand tools to expand its range, which includes pliers, screwdrivers, G-clamps, laser levels and gardening tools. WEBCO continues to concentrate on its mission statement, core business values and strategic vision by growing its staff through training, compliance with the new equity bill and upgrades in its Information Technology Systems.
In 2006 WEBCO established WEBCO TOOLS AUSTRALIA, as well as entered into the Motorsport arena by sponsoring a Mercedes Benz C270 CDi production racing car branded with WEBCO.
2007 through to 2008 WEBCO has moved to a new modern factory, 19 Brunton Circle Founders View South lending high main road exposure.
In 2008 we also saw the launch of the new WEBCO Collections servicing the DIY, Gardening and Mining industries. Along with the collection WEBCO officially launched the new online ordering system developed for the convenience of all WEBCO stockists.
As the WEBCO range expanded, the sales and turnover has continued to grow along with the ever increasing awareness of the WEBCO Brand.
WEBCO continues to be an official accredited LEVEL 6 contributor on the BEE scorecard.
2008 also welcomed the "OBARO Supplier of the Year Award" presented to WEBCO confirming their
WEBCO is extremely well positioned to move forward and looks forward to an exciting future.
Hope this is of interest to you
Best regards,
Craig Webster |
