Mining, industrial, marine and engineering products and applications supplier Cooper&Cooper Group has announced the securing of Level 1 Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) following a private female ownership acquisition.
The Group now boasts 100% black ownership by its black female CEO, Lorato Mogaki, who has 17 years’ experience in senior and executive level positions in the mining industry. As a progressive corporate entity Cooper&Cooper Group views transformation and the empowerment of women as a business imperative, with the acquisition now forming the core of its business model.
Founded in 1897 as a grain merchant, the company later evolved into a motor body shop with the advent of the motor car, being one of Johannesburg’s first panel beaters. The Cooper family later identified the need to start the Engineering Supplies division, launched with the agency for Carver Clamps which, to this day, are still sold by the company.
The 1970s saw the business gravitate towards importing and trading in mining, lifting and safety equipment, having acquired the agency for the Nitchi range. The 1980s saw the first branch open in Welkom, followed by branches in Trichart and Rustenburg.
Throughout the 2000s, the group continued to build into the new millennium, with continued growth in infrastructure and the additional rollout of countrywide branches and a wider vision.
Today Cooper&Cooper Group has sole agencies to distribute leading international brands in South Africa and on the African continent, offering the local market a wide range of engineering and marine products across its Engineering Supplies; Marine Equipment Supplies; Liftworx; Repairworx and Engineering Supplies Crane Services divisions.
