CELEBRATING
CORPORATE PROFILE
50 Years
The Industrial Plumbers group of companies
is a leading contracting group of companies
specialising in plumbing and drainage,
mechanical pipework, and fire control
installations on a national and continental
basis. The company has its head office
in Midrand, with offices in Trichardt in
Mpumalanga and Lusaka in Zambia.
Over the years the company has spread its wings
well beyond plumbing to include fire prevention
and construction maintenance. While this corporate
profile will focus primarily on the company’s plumbing
interests, these are in fact inseparable, and therefore
we mention them here.
History in the making
“We have been operating in the plumbing,
mechanical and allied services industries for the past
50 years in Johannesburg and before then in Zambia
for 16 years. Our head office is based in Midrand and
we undertake light engineering and fabrication work
in our own workshop,” says Derek Zipp, Industrial
Plumbers CEO.
various African states over the years, while its current
Zambian business started operations in 2009.
In fact, the company in one sense is even older than 50
years, having started up in 1954 when Derek’s father,
Stuart Zipp, moved to Ndola and went into business
there as Zipp Plumbers Ltd – hence the reference to
‘current operations’.
Recalling the early history of the business, Zipp says,
“My Mom and Dad trekked to the then Northern
Rhodesia in 1953 to the town of Ndola, where I was
born. My Dad started Zipp Plumbers Ltd back in 1954
as a one-man operation and grew that business into
the largest plumbing construction and maintenance
business on the Copperbelt at the time.” After 16
successful years, Stuart Zipp sold the business in
1969 and the family returned to South Africa. Ironically,
the buyer of the Zambian business subsequently also
relocated to South Africa, and he is still operating under
the name Zipp Plumbers in Durban to this day.
“The family moved back to Johannesburg in April 1969,
and after a six-month sabbatical, Industrial Plumbers
commenced business in October 1969. The initial main
contractor the company engaged with was Wimpy
Homes as my Dad knew the commercial manager from
their Zambian days – hence his belief in the importance
of nurturing relationships,” says Zipp.
The company undertakes projects throughout South
Africa and has undertaken a number of projects in
55
Industrial Plumbers were the plumbing project lead for the prestigious Soccer City ahead of the 2010
FIFA Soccer World Cup.
January 2020 Volume 25 I Number 11
www.plumbingafrica.co.za