THE MEL GROUP

THE MEL GROUP HISTORY

The seed of The MEL Group began life as MELBREAK Engineering in 1968 at Harlow, Essex. The company moved to Sudbury, Suffolk in 1973 and by that stage had changed its name to MEL Aviation Oxygen Ltd to better reflect the business at the time. In the 80’s the name was further changed to MEL Aviation Ltd as the company’s products and scope evolved further.

In 1994 MEL acquired the civil safety equipment division of Autoflug GmbH in Hamburg. In 2006 MEL ventured into Serbia and approved a facility for low cost manufacturing now known as Laurence Walter Serbia. A number of further companies were acquired in the UK and two operations opened on the East and West Coasts of America to give us a global presence.

THE MEL GROUP TODAY

industrial divisions aerospace
The MEL Group today is an engineering solution provider to the aerospace, defence and industrial sectors.

The Group grew as government departments, primes and airlines looked to reduce their supplier bases and created a niche for an adaptable, quick acting engineering solution provider that was service driven.

We transformed by continually investing in the business and not forgetting our roots, where if we didn’t offer a service we’d have nothing.

Using our range of cost-effective engineering products, services and solutions, we help customers overcome problems. That combination of expertise, ingenuity, and variety is why we’ve been able to evolve – and it underpins our success as a self-sufficient, financially stable business.

THE MEL GROUP TOMMOROW

Moving forward The MEL Group wants to be a 100 million pounds a year business. We will achieve this by partnering with companies who truly understand what value we can offer to their own organisations and, by developing our range of products which are in niche markets.

Through both acquisition and steady, organic growth – we’ve become a total engineering solutions provider to the global aerospace and defence market, and to industry in general.

To that end, we’ve embedded service and value within the DNA of this company and have a presence on both coasts of the USA and across Europe – including a low-cost manufacturing and assembly facility in Serbia.

What’s more


The new generation of Smith’s and Harvey’s already working for the company fully understand the importance of keeping The MEL Group as a family-run business.

This means they will continue to ensure that we are never for sale.