Leading foundry business makes commitment to the Black Country with £1.8m industrial estate purchase
One of the UK’s leading foundries has reinforced its commitment to the Black Country by buying the industrial estate it has called home for more than 60 years.
Alucast, which provides high pressure, low pressure, sand and gravity casting services, has spent £1.8m on purchasing the Moxley Industrial Estate in Wednesbury, protecting the future of the three units it currently operates from and supporting estate neighbours Kingfisher Enamelling Company and BES Group Testing.
The five-acre site, located just a few miles from the M5 and M6 motorways, is well-known in the local manufacturing community and has been home to the casting expert for nearly 65 years.
Tony Sartorius, chairman of Alucast, said: “The Moxley Industrial Estate has been our base for as long as I’ve been with the company and has given us a great location to expand our high-pressure diecasting operations and our machine shops, which now boast 25 CNCs.
“The opportunity arose to purchase the site, which means we now have full control of our future. Black Country is and always will be our home and, by securing ownership, it means we have the opportunity to ringfence our expansion ambitions.
“There are plans in place to look at how we can make the buildings greener, helping boost sustainability and reducing energy costs at the same time for our business and our tenants.”
Alucast is the only company in the UK that has the four main casting processes on one site - sand, gravity, high-pressure and low-pressure casting. Its ability to add a comprehensive machining capability to the mix has seen it build a global client base in automotive, defence, construction products and, increasingly rail.
The firm has recently appointed Anthony Evans as its new CEO to lead the next stage of its expansion, an expansion targeting £15 million of revenue by 2028.
A former chairman of Sarginsons, he brings with him more than 40 years of experience across the sector in exploring new technologies, securing international business and driving the development of the next generation of castings professionals.
The latter is an area he is extremely passionate about after a previous role as National President of the Institute of Cast Metals Engineers and his membership of The Worshipful Company of Founders.
Anthony added: “I’ve known owners Tony Sartorius and John Swift for decades and have always respected what they’ve achieved with Alucast. This made it a very easy decision when I was approached to become the new CEO.
“We’ve got a big opportunity to innovate sand and low pressure casting by using new processes and materials, such as ALU-HPI, which produces an alloy that is one third of the weight of SG Iron yet still achieves key targets for ultimate tensile strength.
“Ultimately, it means we can cast complex and lightweight components in rapid turnaround times. There’s lots of potential for this in the US and this will be a key market for us going forward.”
Alucast is a founder member of the Manufacturing Assembly Network, a group of nine manufacturers who share best practice and work together to explore new opportunities.
