Steel & Alloy opens £26m factory in Oldbury creating 60 jobs
A leading steel firm has celebrated its half century with the opening of a £27 million new factory in Oldbury.
The Steel & Alloy Processing site in Popes Lane is equipped with state-of-the-art machinery and will mean the creation of around 60 new jobs.
It was built on the site of what used to be the Albright High School until 1983 and was later Sandwell Council’s Training and Development Centre.
It provides another 115,000 sq ft of factory space for the company, owned by Spanish firm Gonvarri Steel Services, to expand even further.
Based at the Trafalgar Works in West Bromwich, Steel & Alloy employs more than 200 people across its sites, including Darlaston, Cannock and Smethwick.
It specialises in processing steel for the automotive industry and counts the likes of Jaguar Land Rover, Honda, Ford, Volvo, Toyota and BMW among its customers.
The company brought together customers and suppliers for the official opening of the Popes Lane site, built over the course of the last year.
It also attracted guests including Minister for Investment, Graham Stuart. Mr Stuart said the new factory, backed by its Spanish owners, provided more good news for the Midlands, which attracted 225 foreign investment projects last year, creating more than 8,300 jobs.
He said: “A thriving Midlands Engine is essential to our national economic success and it is fantastic to see overseas investment boosting a long-standing UK company here in the Black Country.
“The Midlands sits at the heart of the UK with key transport links as the M1, M6 and West Coast Mainline running through it.
“The Department for International Trade was set up by Theresa May to boost exports, promote investment and reduce barriers to trade.”
Also at yesterday’s event was Jon Riberas, the president and chief executive of Steel & Alloy’s parent company Gonvarri; noted automotive industry expert Professor David Bailey of Aston University and Deputy Mayor of Sandwell, Councillor Carol Goult.
West Midlands firm Trebor oversaw the development of the site, with Halesowen-based A&H Construction handling the building work.
Steel & Alloy finance director Paul Whitehouse said the investment was funded by Barclays and Spanish bank BBVA.
Speaking when work began, in February last year, 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.”
The Black Country LEP also supported the project using the Growth Deal to invest £54,000 in site investigations for the Popes Lane. It is hoped 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.
Sandwell Council leader Councillor Steve Eling said it was an important day for Sandwell when Steel & Alloy acquired the site for such a significant development.
He said: “It is encouraging to see such an important development in Oldbury and we welcome the investment and new jobs the highly-successful company brings to the borough,”
“It is further confirmation that Sandwell and the Black Country remains at the heart of quality UK manufacturing.
“Sandwell welcomes businesses wishing to expand and grow and we offer whatever assistance we can to assist them to invest in our borough.
“We were able to support Steel & Alloy through the Growth and Spatial Planning team and we are delighted that they have been able to construct a new modern factory in our area.”
