Crushing and screening entrepreneur passes away

Paul Douglas, former managing director at Extec. (PHOTO: Extec)

Paul Douglas, the former Managing Director of United Kingdom-based company Extec Mobile Crushers and Screens Ltd, sadly passed away at the far too young age of 61 at Noble’s Hospital, Isle of Mann, on Sunday 8 September.

Although absent from the industry for many years, the legacy of Paul still lives on through the Sandvik, and other ranges, of mobile crushers and screens.

Paul was born near the centre of the global mobile crushing and screening industry in Northern Ireland, with the business literally in his veins. His father, Pat, was one of the founders and managing director of Powerscreen International.

Following a contested take over in the early 80s, Pat left the business, but Dublin-raised Paul, after many adventures, decided to follow in his father’s footsteps, founding Extec Mobile Crushers and Screens Ltd.

The company soon had three factories in Sheffield, Omagh and its main manufacturing site at the former NCB testing site in Swadlincote, Derbyshire, England, where it became the second largest employer in the area.

Amongst the groundbreaking developments Paul introduced was the Extec 5000 and Turbo. These two three-way-split screeners transformed the market with their integrated hydraulic side and tail conveyors.

Revolutionary product development continued with the launch of the Robotrac (the first purpose designed scalping screen on tracks) and the Turbotrac, which is believed to be the world’s first integrated three-way-split screener on tracks. Perhaps Paul’s crowning achievement screener wise was the patented Doublescreen. This uses two independent screen boxes for precision screening at high tonnage throughputs.

Following the development of a world leading range of screens, Paul, with his customary gusto and zeal, turned his attention to mobile tracked crushing.

Although leading competitors assessed the total global market to be in the region of just 100 machines annually at this time (the late 90s), Paul ignored the ‘experts’, and went about developing the Megabite, Pitbull, C12 and C10 tracked jaw crushers.

These, to the shock of the industry, were mass produced and mass marketed. Suffice to say, soon Extec was supplying far more than the 100 tracked crushers annually, with the C12 becoming the market leader. To this array, Paul soon added tracked impactor and cone crushers.

Paul Douglas pioneered the development of the three-way-split tracked screener. (PHOTO: Extec)

Extec’s success was based on its position within its ‘home’ markets in the UK, Ireland, the US and Germany. However, the company was also a pioneering exporter of its solutions to many far flung places, with many Extec machines to be found in all corners of the globe. The quality of the build preached by Paul can be seen in that numerous Extecs from Paul’s day are still in operation.

Due to Extec’s success, it became the target of far larger companies. This led to it being acquired by 3i, a leading private equity venture capital company.

While Paul - a true entrepreneur - was offered a senior role within the company, he soon sold his 3i shares and left the industry. Extec later was sold to Sandvik, where the legacy of Paul’s work lives on.

Paul leaves behind Louise, his supportive and loving wife of many years, two sons, Connor and Ryan, his mother Kathleen, four brothers and four sisters, as well as numerous nieces, nephews and members of the extended family. He was buried on 17 September 2024 in the Isle of Mann, which has been the family’s home for many years.