MBIG programme manager Caroline Cattle with Paul Beirne of Midland AlloyTelford-based
Midland Alloy Ltd, a specialist in aluminium section bending, complex CNC machining and coded TIG welding, has expanded and created six new jobs after receiving nearly £100,000 from a grant programme supported by the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership.
Midland Alloy has taken on on new people and built a warehouse extension at its Stafford Park base after receiving £97,285 from the Marches Building Investment Grant (MBIG) last year.
The company – which specialises in the manufacture of complex curved metal products and components for UK and European customers and also has its own RadiAl range of shaped aluminium windows and louvres – says the expansion is part of a £500,000 investment in its future.
Director Paul Beirne said the new 4,000ft
2 extension had created a 6m high, dedicated pallet racking storage facility for long lengths of aluminium, other materials and tools, and extra space for manufacturing.
“This investment will also increase manufacturing space within the existing main factory with the potential to reduce operating costs and increase the capacity for sales growth and more jobs.
“Our competitiveness should be enhanced due to quicker, more efficient and safer methods of handling, storage and first stage processing of long lengths of aluminium extruded stock.”
“Six full-time employees have already been recruited and the company is looking to hire extra qualified experienced engineers for both the core business and also RadiAl architectural aluminium window products.
“While we have been very severely affected, like most manufacturers, by the Covid-19 lockdown, our large size capacity complex five-axis machining facilities specialising in machining aluminium vehicle chassis extrusions, castings and aluminium extruded assemblies for electric vehicle battery trays, have recently attracted new projects from within the automotive industry.
“The MBIG grant has been a major incentive to undertake the new extension and assist future business expansion once a solution has been found to deal with the coronavirus problem.”
The MBIG programme, which is delivered by Herefordshire Council, has recently been extended with a new £2.2 million programme offering grants of up to £150,000 to help meet the cost of building new premises, or extending and reconfiguring their existing ones. It is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, and supported by the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership and Marches Growth Hub.
Gill Hamer, Marches LEP director, said: “This is fantastic news for Midland Alloy, the new staff and the economy of the area as a whole. By helping ensure that companies such as this can realise their growth ambitions, the Marches LEP and Growth Hub is delivering real results to drive forward our economy.”