Every catalytic converter, DPF, exhaust pipe and fitting kit sold on CatHive is manufactured by BM Catalysts of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire — Europe’s leading independent manufacturer of aftermarket “hot end” emissions products. This page explains who they are and why we chose to build our range around them.
From one fast-fit centre to Europe’s largest range
The company’s story begins in 1966, when Eric Massey founded BM Tyres, operating from a single fast-fit centre. In 1998 the firm began making its own direct-fit catalytic converters — originally simply to satisfy demand in its own fitting bays. The parts proved good enough that making them became the business: in 2001 the company acquired the Reed Mill site in Mansfield, with turnover then at roughly £2.5 million.
In 2012, Toby Massey — Eric’s grandson — became Managing Director, and the family firm accelerated: a pressure-pipe range joined the catalogue in 2016 as the company celebrated its 50th anniversary, and by 2021 a third UK manufacturing site had been acquired. Today BM Catalysts produces parts for over 200 million vehicles across Europe, with the largest aftermarket range on the continent — covering more than 90% of the cars on the road — and a product development team adding up to 300 new parts every year.
How the parts are made
BM Catalysts manufactures in the UK using its own in-house processes, down to producing the smallest components themselves. Most parts are made from 409-grade stainless steel, chosen for its strength and corrosion resistance, and the engineering leans towards over-specification — their lambda sensor ports, for example, are 14% thicker than other suppliers’. The company is ISO 9001 certified, and every part carries a unique pin-stamped serial number giving full traceability through manufacture and distribution: they can tell where the components came from, who worked on the part and when it was completed. That serial number is also what backs the warranty on the part you buy.
Type approval and testing
BM Catalysts carries type approval on a wide range of its catalytic converters and DPFs — the parts marked Type Approved on our product pages. Homologated catalysts and DPFs are tested in accordance with the relevant regulations, ensuring compliance with the legal requirements that apply to replacement emissions parts. You can read more about what that means for your car in our guide to type approval and the law.
Support that reaches you directly
Unusually for a parts manufacturer, BM Catalysts runs a dedicated product support helpline, staffed through European business hours in multiple languages. As a CatHive customer you benefit from this directly — the manufacturer’s technical support number is included in your order emails, so expert help with fitting or product questions is a phone call away. Their warranty terms — two years as standard, three years on the Premium silicon-carbide DPF range — are among the strongest in the aftermarket, and are reflected on every product page on this site.
Why we chose BM Catalysts
When we built CatHive we wanted one manufacturer we could stand behind completely, rather than a mixed catalogue of unknown provenance. BM Catalysts’ combination of UK manufacturing, type-approved ranges, genuine traceability and real technical support made that an easy decision. Everything we list — from a £20 fitting kit to the largest silicon-carbide DPF — comes from the same factories in Mansfield, with the same serial-numbered accountability behind it.