A foundry in West Bromwich has appointed a female boss to lead its expansion. Gina Steventon, who has been with the business since leaving school, has taken the helm at Aluminium Products Ltd (AlPro) and has set her sights on increasing its sales to £2 million over the next 18 months.
She is looking to take advantage of the firm’s expertise in sand casting and gravity die casting, which has seen it produce decorative lighting for Canary Wharf, retro seating for Selfridges, large tools for automotive and aerospace clients, and parts for the rail, and oil and gas sectors, plus the MoD (it also produced the wheels for the train used in the James Bond film Skyfall.)
Ms Steventon, who took over from former managing director Mike Laker last month, said: “This is a very exciting time for the business. There are substantial export opportunities that we can take advantage of, and we are seeing a significant increase in enquiries from our core markets. With what we’ve got in the pipeline — combined with the launch of the new Web site (
www.aluminiumproductsltd.co.uk) — we’re confident that we can hit £2 million by the end of 2016.
“I’ve worked in this industry for 28 years, so I have tremendous experience and lots of contacts. The fact that I’m a woman in a male-dominated industry shouldn’t really come into it, as long as my team deliver the quality, price and performance of the parts. Growing the business is a major aim, and we’ll definitely need more
people as we expand. However, that will mean meeting the skills challenge head on, trying to entice more apprentices into the foundry sector and working with education providers to develop specialist training courses.”