New management appointments and investment in fleet helps Corbetts celebrate 160 years

Corbetts the Galvanizers, which celebrates 160 years in business in 2020, has sets its sights on securing £1 million of new orders from clients in the utility, automotive and leisure sectors.

The company has made three high-profile appointments to boost its leadership function, with Simon Prest and Mark Stephenson joining as sales and marketing manager and procurement manager respectively, whilst Mick Probert has been promoted to take care of operations.

The new-look team has been charged with overseeing a range of performance and efficiency improvements at the Telford site and rolling-out a new customer-centric approach that will speed up turnaround times and deliver greater flexibility.

It comes just a few weeks after the company completed the modernisation of its fleet of vehicles, with the purchase of two additional MAN TGX articulated lorries and trailers – both emblazoned in striking 160th anniversary livery.

Sophie Williams, finance director and general manager at Corbetts the Galvanizers, said: “Like many in manufacturing, we’ve had a really tough time with Covid-19 and had to look at how we wanted to continue to move the business forward in what will be a ‘new normal’.

“Volumes dropped as you would expect, but we remained open supplying critical contracts for the NHS and clients involved in utilities. The additional downtime has been important in helping us identify a number of production improvements and finalising the management team with the key appointments of Simon, Mark and Mick.

“The trio bring with them a fantastic mixture of technical experience within the galvanizing industry, knowledge of implementing widescale training programmes, proven marketing and commercial expertise and extensive supply chain management.

“We are really excited by the management team and it will undoubtedly give us the platform we need to hopefully achieve £1 million of new business.”

2020 marks 160 years of Corbetts the Galvanizers supplying hot dip galvanizing to thousands of customers across the UK and Europe.

From its purpose-built facility in Telford, it operates a number of galvanizing baths that give it the opportunity to process in excess of 50,000 tonnes every year and the ability to double dip material up to a length of 14 metres.

Product is then loaded on to the company’s fleet of 13 vehicles that make up to 5,000 different journeys every year, with the latest investment meaning that the oldest lorry is less than five-years-old.

Natalie Hughes, who joined as HR manager earlier in the year, added: “160 years in business is a massive achievement and seeing our vehicles – in their striking anniversary livery – travelling across the country will be a visual reminder of the positive impact Corbetts has on UK manufacturing.

“We also want to use our big birthday to really celebrate our 105-strong workforce that have been fantastic, especially during Covid-19. And that’s not just an empty marketing statement; we have looked at ways in which we can improve our employee engagement, introducing new development opportunities, better working incentives and giving our people the chance to shine.”