Copper firm’s new furnace to boost workforce
A historic Black Country copper tube firm is hoping to build on almost 100 years of successful industry by installing a new 150-tonne furnace at its premises.
Mueller Europe Limited in Bilston, more widely recognised under its trading names of Wednesbury Tube and Yorkshire Copper Tube, has submitted plans for the work to Wolverhampton Council.
If approval for the expansion is given the go-ahead, it will create 26 new jobs to add to the company’s 230-strong workforce, making it one of the biggest employers in the Bilston area.
Founded in 1921, the business moved to its current site in Oxford Street and is now the only copper tube producer in the UK, supplying heating and plumbing components to big-name companies such as Travis Perkins, Screwfix and B&Q.
The firm’s Access and Design statement, outlining the plans for the alterations, states: “Thirty per cent of sales are exported across the globe, from Europe to the Middle East and Far East.
“Two thirds of raw material are imported from as far away as South America in the form of raw cathode. The other third is sourced from UK copper scrap suppliers.
“The proposal is to install a 150-tonne refining furnace that will allow 100 per cent of raw material requirements to be sourced locally in the UK.
“The proposals will help Mueller Europe meet the changing and increasing demand to recycle our scrap/waste materials, in this case copper. The plant will reduce in importing of raw copper to virtually zero and make the facilities new copper tubing solely from recycled copper,” it added.
At present the company operates 24-hourly on a shift basis, with the furnace intended to follow the same working pattern, spending approximately eight hours loading, eight hours refining and eight hours casting.
Under the proposals, the existing building will have to be altered to house the refining furnace. Changes include raising part of the roof of an existing bay by approximately 4.5 metres.
Spanning 13.4 acres, the site is located between Oxford Street, Hare Street and Vulcan Road and is covered by 42 CCTV cameras.
It is estimated that around half of the firm’s workforce drive to work, with a large number of others using the nearby tram stop at Loxdale.
The company’s statement said that the appearance of the new building will be in keeping with the existing buildings on site and similar materials will be used in its construction.
A contractor for the construction work is yet to be appointed and city council planners are expected to make a decision on the proposals in the near future.
