Fred Mayfield moves to other investments in Adelaide on back of successful electrical business from 1936
F.R. Mayfield Ltd, electrical engineers and merchants, was started by Fred Mayfield in Adelaide in 1936.
Fred Mayfield used a thriving electrical contracting business, F. R. Mayfield, he developed in Adelaide from 1936 to move into other South Australian investments.
While still operating the electrical business, Mayfield invested in a quarry products company Quarry Industries and was its largest shareholder when he sold at a good profit to Boral in 1980. Soon afterwards, he sold his electrical business and devoted his funds to property investment, with sons Grant and Brent, mainly in the Adelaide city centre.
The electrical business continued, becoming a public company Mayfield Group Investments that listed on the Australian stock exchange (ASX) in 2020. Mayfield Group Investments completed the ASX listing with the reverse takeover of Stream Group.
Headquartered in Edinburgh north of Adelaide, Mayfield also had offices and manufacturing plants in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne and about 200 staff. The company provided electrical products and services for renewables, transmission and industrial infrastructure for sectors including defence, mining, oil and gas. Its products include high voltage electrical switch rooms for power distribution and control for renewables (wind and solar), mining, heavy industry and utilities.
Mayfield group had Mayfield Industries, STE Solutions, Power Parameters and Walker Control as subsidiaries and a 40% stake in ATI Australia. The group designed, fabricated, installed, assembled and commissioned its electrical infrastructure around Australia and had achieved annual revenues about $60 million. The capital raised with the ASX listing would enable to the company to invest in robotic equipment to increase the volume and efficiency of fabrication at Edinburgh, with about 125 employees.
The company had been importing up to 30% of sheet metal for its manufactured products from Malaysia but expected to be fabricating 100% of its sheet metal fabrication in Adelaide by 2021. This was part of a mindset change within Australian manufacturing from the Covid-19 pandemic to cut the supply chain risks. Mayfield also aimed to source components where possible from local major suppliers such as Siemens and Schneider Electric. A
utomating manufacturing would also help Mayfield remain competitive with shorter supply times. Mayfield had identified growth trends such as expanding electrical transmission infrastructure to connect smaller, remote and renewable generation; increasing use of battery energy storage systems as grid solutions for power quality; the growing interconnectedness of the national energy market; and utilities wanting to cut costs and extend asset lifecycles.
