Hogarth celebrates 30 years as Alloy Wire International targets £15m

Angus Hogarth, who started his industrial life involved in the manufacture of wire rope used in the mining sector, is marking 30 years of service at the UK’s leading manufacturer of nickel alloy round, flat and profile wire by moving to a consultancy role to help the Brierley Hill company record a £15 million best-ever year in 2023.

The graduate of Matthew Boulton Technical College joined the business under the leadership of the recently retired chairman Bill Graham as marketing manager to promote AWI in the ‘high performance’ nickel alloy space.

He soon found his natural aptitude for dealing with customers and inquisitive nature for solving end-use applications led him to a role in sales and he spent three weeks travelling the States of Illinois, Connecticut and Texas, conducting market research on potential customers.

“I knew after that trip I’d found a role that I really got, and the rest is, how do you say, history,” explained Angus Hogarth, who enjoys sailing and playing tennis in his spare time.

“Soon after that I became more involved with sales, leading to me being on the road four days per week and, as interest in our wire and speed of delivery grew, my business travel quickly extended into Europe, Scandinavia and, at the last count, I’m on about 35 different countries.”

He went on to add: “The next big milestone was in 2010, where I became sales director and three years later, we completed a MBO whilst maintaining 100 per cent employee ownership – a massive feature of what has made us so successful.”

The experienced wire sales specialist has just been involved in the latest management buy-out for the business, with current directors Tom Mander, Adam Shaw and Andrew Du Plessis taking the reins from him and Mark Venables, who has moved to chairman.

Angus will step back from day-to-day activity, instead focusing on harnessing all his industry contacts in a consultancy role to support the company’s ambition to hit its £15m annual sales target for 2023.

Investment in creating a strong network of sales offices across the globe will be crucial in this objective, with local on-the-ground knowledge now present in forty countries and proving crucial to building strong relationships in the automotive, aerospace, high value engineering, medical, oil and gas and nuclear sectors.

AWI’s shipping department also put in place several contingency plans with some of the world’s best transport carriers, ensuring its material can be anywhere in Europe within three weeks of the order being placed.

Tom Mander, managing director, said: “Angus has been such an important part of the company’s growth over the last thirty years and his ability to cultivate relationships and find opportunities is unmatched.

“His focus had changed in the last 12 months to look at R&D and new applications where our 60-strong range of alloys could be used, and this has already led to significant opportunities in additive manufacturing.

“We need to make sure we don’t lose this vast knowledge and eye for an opportunity, so we are delighted that he’s agreed to be a consultant going forward.”

Angus concluded: “Strangely, I never set out to be a salesperson, in fact the thought couldn’t have been further from my mind.

“However, the role was made easier because you had 100 per cent conviction in the product and 100 per cent faith in everyone back at the factory to fulfil the promises I had made.

“I am very proud to have played a small role in the AWI “family” that have collectively achieved an increase in sales of £14m over the past 20 years, with exports to over 75 different countries now accounting for 60 per cent of annual sales. This, alongside the MBO, are perfect 30th anniversary presents.”