nostalgia*
when work and passion
MEET
THEY SAY IF YOU FIND A JOB YOU LOVE, YOU’LL NEVER WORK A DAY IN YOUR LIFE. AFTER MORE THAN 50 YEARS IN THE BED INDUSTRY, HUGH MATHIE IS AS EXCITED BY THE CHALLENGES OF BUSINESS AS HE WAS WHEN HE STARTED MATHIE BROTHERS IN THE ‘70S - AND HE NEVER MISSES THE CHANCE TO MAKE A JOKE 18
T
he Mathie name is well-known in the Upper Highway and wherever you find a Mathie, you are likely to find an interesting backstory. Hard work and entrepreneurialism run through this family’s veins, but nowhere more clearly than in Hugh himself. His first business deal was at the age of just eight, when he swapped an abandoned guitar for a broken bicycle that he repaired himself and then rode for years. In 1972, after a successful stint in the army and time spent managing a citrus farm near Hoedspruit, Hugh signed a lease on a small shop in Hillary, with just R36 to his name. He borrowed money to buy
TOP: Brothers Hugh, Mike and Bruce Mathie back in the days.
ABOVE: Hugh Mathie – always up for a laugh
and always looking out for the next big idea!
secondhand furniture and channelled his drive and determination into creating a profitable business for himself. That he did and Hugh was soon joined by his brothers, Mike and Bruce, and then by cousins from the UK, Ian and John. In less than 10 years, Mathie Brothers had grown to 36 stores around what was then Natal and the Transvaal, with an annual turnover of over R15-million. Hard work, highly competitive pricing and extensive marketing saw the company become the place for families to buy
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