3 minute read - 12th January 2023
Alloy Wire International completes MBO
A manufacturer of round, flat and profile wire has completed a management buy-out, as it looks to target £15m annual sales for the first time in its 77-year history. Alloy Wire International’s senior management team has purchased the business from the current owners, cementing the Black Country firm’s long-term future.
The senior management trio, comprising managing director Tom Mander, technical director Andrew Du Plessis and finance director Adam Shaw, have also pressed the button on a near £1m investment drive that will see new wet drawing and single hole dry drawing machines arrive during the course of the year, along with an annealing line spooler and several hundred tonnes of raw material.
The deal will see all 33 members of staff become shareholders in the business, reinforcing a company-wide commitment to each other and its 6,000-strong global customer base.
Alloy Wire International has completed a management buy-out and has set its sights on a record year in 2023 / Picture: Alloy Wire International
Alloy Wire International (AWI) manufactures round, flat and profile wire in over 60 exotic alloys, such as Inconel, Monel, Hastelloy, Nimonic and Waspaloy. The company was founded in 1946 by John Stockdale in an old ambulance station in Old Hill in the Black Country. Today, the firm continues to operate across 15 different market sectors and, despite global supply chain disruption, is still delivering material in just four weeks from the order being placed.
Tom Mander, managing director of Alloy Wire International, said: “This is another major milestone in the history of AWI and gives us the platform to capitalise on recent growth and massive export opportunities. The new owners have over 45 years’ combined experience of working here, so it was a natural progression for us to step forward and take the business on, with previous MD Mark Venables moving to chairman for the next five years and R&D director Angus Hogarth taking a consultancy role.
“There’s something very special about this business and this MBO ensures we maintain and cultivate this for the next 75 years. We will continue to focus on our USPs, which include delivering the fastest industry lead times, world class manufacturing quality and an expanding range of exotic alloys. It goes without saying that the technical expertise AWI is known for will continue to be a cornerstone of our approach.”
(l-r) Andrew Du Plessis, Adam Shaw, Tom Mander and Mark Venables / Picture: Alloy Wire International
Mark Venables, who led the previous MBO in 2013, added: “The new management team are well versed in the Alloy Wire International culture and will also bring a youthful exuberance, passion, and eagerness to innovate traditional processes and industry norms.
“They have already ring-fenced significant investment for the next five years and are keen to work on increasing our international network of agents, with discussions currently taking place on establishing a bigger presence in Egypt and the Middle East. I’m really looking forward to seeing how Tom, Adam and Andrew take the business forward and achieve our aim of becoming a £15m business by the end of 2023.”