Work starts on £27m steel factory
Work is underway on the first stage of a major new £27 million factory in Oldbury.
A ceremony was held at the site in Popes Lane to mark the start of construction.
The £27 million site will house state-of-the-art steel processing equipment and create 50 jobs for Steel & Alloy Processing, which has its main site in West Bromwich. It was formerly Albright High School until 1983 and was owned by Sandwell Council previously.
The company has its headquarters in West Bromwich and also has sites in Darlaston, Cannock and Smethwick, counting the likes of Jaguar, Vauxhall, Volkswagen and Volvo among its customers.
The expansion has been driven by a surge in demand for motor parts. The Popes Lane site has been brought forward by Midlands commercial developer TreborDevelopments, to create a scheme specifically designed for Steel & Alloy's operations.
Representatives from Steel & Alloy's parent company, Gonvarri Steel Services, travelled to Oldbury from Madrid to attend the ceremony to mark the start of construction.
Steel & Alloy and Trebor have selected Halesowen-based A&H Construction to deliver the building which is due to be operational in November.
Mark Cooper, managing director of Steel & Alloy Processing, said: "Our main facility in West Bromwich is at full capacity and this significant investment demonstrates the confidence that our parent company, Gonvarri Steel Services, has in the UK business. It will allow us to develop new processing technologies and materials to meet the ever increasing demands of the UK automotive industry and secure the company's position as the leader in the field.
"It is great to have found a new site so close to our existing operations and we are grateful to both the council and the Department for International Trade for their support in getting us to this stage."
Bob Tattrie, managing partner at Trebor Developments, added: "It is great to see work start on-site so swiftly after agreeing the deal with Steel & Alloy in the autumn and us taking the scheme through planning and site preparation with the support of the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership. This is a high profile scheme for Sandwell and will be seen as a great vote of confidence for Midlands manufacturing."
The Black Country LEP has supported the project via the Growth Deal investing £54,000 in site investigations for the Popes Lane site.
The new factory in Oldbury will eventually create around 150 jobs with another 100 workers expected to join the firm over the next two phases of the expansion.
