“Ajax Pumps was part of the McPherson stable of manufacturing companies from mid-1940s.
“In the 1980s, McPhersons acquired Davey from Phillips and formed Ajax Davey Pumps. The two businesses tried to present a united front for several years, but the two cultures did not fit well and Ajax was eventually sold by McPhersons to Southern Cross in 1985, shortly after I joined Ajax.
“Ajax continued to trade under that name, despite the change of ownership and was very profitable for five or six years and grew rapidly under the leadership of Rob Campbell. When Rob left, I took over and ran the business until Southern Cross looked around for an international partner to bring in more modern pump technology. In 1991, KSB acquired 50 per cent of the shares in a JV. However, Southern Cross got into some financial difficulty and KSB acquired the balance of the shares in 1993. Since then it has been wholly owned by KSB”.
Keith Sanders, PIA Councillor and Life Member, Owner of Australian Industrial Marketing
