“It has certainly been a rollercoaster 12 months,” explains Sophie Williams, who was appointed as finance director at just 28 years-old, making her one of the youngest female directors in the sector. “We spent a lot of the past 12 months building a platform that would allow us to work through economic issues, while pressing on with our desire to reinforce our position as one of the UK’s leading hot-dip galvanisers.”
She continues: “In fact, when we actually look at the figures, we achieved our best-ever year for new sales and a lot of this was down to our repositioning, the introduction of new branding and successfully passing our ISO9001 quality accreditation.”
The company, which was founded by Samuel Corbett, opened its Wellington factory in 1860, and Shropshire has remained its home ever since. However, today’s site in Halesfield, its base since 1999, will be alien to those that started out all those years ago, with a new water-recovery system in place, state-of-the-art kettles installed and a 13-strong fleet of vehicles in the yard acting as the distribution nerve centre for the customer base.
Another major milestone was the purchase of the business by Canadian investment house Ardenton Capital in 2017 and, under its renewed backing, the company has enjoyed a steep upward growth curve, putting on over £1.2 million in sales and enjoying new successes in the construction and automotive sectors.
“Our galvanising can be seen on street furniture, IT infrastructure and on articulated lorry trailers carrying goods all over the UK,” says Williams. “We even have a big say on the chassis that thousands of static caravans sit on. It’s all about delivering the performance, yet still making sure they look great.
She concludes: “2020 will be a real celebration of our history, but also a marker in the sand for the next 160 years, starting with a 7% increase in volumes. If we achieve this, revenue should be up by £1 million – now that’s a good birthday present.”
A ‘right first time’ commitment has resonated with Corbett’s the Galvanizers’ client base and helped it convert pipeline business into actual revenue, as it looks towards £12 million of annual sales. In addition, all employees are now part of a newly devised training and development programme that is designed to blend new starts immediately into the team and allow existing individuals to up-skill.
