Master Magnets celebrates 40 years

October marks the 40^th anniversary of Birmingham-based Master Magnets, which over the years has earned a reputation in the recycling, mining and mineral processing industrial sectors.

Jan. 2017, Master Magnets was purchased by Bunting Magnetics, U.K., according to a recent company release.

Master Magnets was founded in 1978 by Geoff Worley, an engineer with 15 years of experience in the magnetics industry. The company says the brand grew steadily throughout the 1980s despite “economic challenges” and was positioned for the increased demand in the early 1990s spurred by U.K. investments into the coal industry and global mineral processing projects.

According to the release, Worley and his team of engineers developed a range of magnetic separators specifically for those industries. For the coal and mining industries, he developed large electro suspension magnets, which would be suspended over conveyors to remove large tramp metal, such as pit props and bars. The team also designed the Induced Roll Magnetic Separator (IMR) and established a laboratory where clients could test materials.

The company says Master Magnets expanded with investments in new manufacturing technology, including heavy-winding gear for larger electro suspension magnets. A bespoke super-strength magnetiser, weighing more than 14 tons, was acquired. The brand is also well-known for manufacturing permanent overband magnets.

In 2003, Master Magnets acquired Integrated Recycling Systems, Redditch, England. Upon retirement, Worley handed the reigns of the business to Adrian Coleman, who started his career at Master Magnets in 1984 as an apprentice.

“Master Magnets gave me the opportunity to develop my engineering career,” Coleman says.  “In 1988, they supported me through a four-year mechanical engineering course at Birmingham University. This gave me the necessary engineering skills to join the design office. As the company grew, I took up the position of production manager, before becoming managing director in 2008.”

In 2017, Worley sold Master Magnets business to Bunting Magnetics and Coleman was appointed as the general manager. Worley foresaw the investment needed to maintain Master Magnets and identified Bunting as the ideal partner, the company says.

“Master Magnets has developed a long-standing strong identity and reputation as a leader in metal separation technology,” says Simon Ayling, Bunting Magnetics Europe’s managing director. “The acquisition means that we can invest in their manufacturing facility in Birmingham and in the development of new separation technology. When Geoff founded the company, his aim was to produce well-engineered equipment to solve metal contamination and separation problems. That challenge has been passed onto us and we are excited by the future.”