Petford crowned Made in the Midlands winner
Toolmaking and injection moulding specialists Petford Group were crowned overall winners of the Made in the Midlands Awards 2017 in front of more than 200 delegates from regional industry.
Dudley-based Petford Group's managing director Mel Sinar was presented with the award by MIM non-executive chairman Lord Mike Whitby at the annual gathering, which this year was held at Lilleshall National Sports and Conferencing Centre, near Telford.
The firm received the award in recognition of its impressive £1.8 million investment in a new moulding facility at Lye over the past 18 months coupled with significant growth.
Accepting the award, Mr Sinar said: "It’s been an honour to win the overall award for 2017 after being runners-up last year. This year has been our most invested yet and the hard work is already paying off with sales into the business and further investment is continuing for us to reach our goal of £20m turnover in the next three years.
"It was great to see so many MIM members and celebrate with all the combined success 2017 has brought for all, and here’s to 2018 being an even bigger success for the region."
The awards also saw Alucast, Wednesbury, as overall runner-up.
Among the manufacturing achievement award winers were SMB Pressings, Cannock (diversification); Kloeckner Metals, Dudley and Hayley Group, Halesowen (both innovation) and In-Comm-Training Services, Walsall (services to industry).
The event also featured a debate discussing how to get the most out of Made in the Midlands featuring Martin Dinsley of DURA Automotive, Matthias Meyer of Heller Machine Tools and Liam Conway of Made in the Midlands patron Control Energy Costs, chaired by Made in the Midlands President Chris Greenough.
Lord Whitby also spoke on the future of manufacturing in the UK and stressed the vital importance of Midlands industry achieving better representation in order to get the recognition it deserves.
The event was closed by Made in the Midlands chief executive Jason Pitt, who updated delegates on Made in the Midlands projects over the next 12 months, including an equality campaign, the 'Made in Barometer', a revamped online portal and new plans for Made in London.
