A STEEL firm has made a
major acquisition in its bid
to diversify the business.
HS Steel UK Limited is the
group holding company for the
Shakespeare Foundry based in
Salop Street, Bolton.
The firm, which employs 30
people at the Bolton foundry
and 90 in total, specialises in
making heat resistant steel
plates for the cement and
mining industries.
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It has just bought Abraclean, a
Stockport-based maker of
abrasive blast cleaning
equipment, for an undisclosed
sum.
Blast cleaning is a process in
which steel pellets are blasted
against the surface of metal to
prepare it for coating.
Michael Stanley, co-owner of
the firm, said the acquisition
was designed to diversify the
business away from the core
operation of steel plate
manufacture, which has been
affected by recent turmoil in
the commodity markets.
He said: "The foundry
business is increasingly
unpredictable and this move
into blast cleaning is a nice
little back stop, a way of
spreading our risk.
"We looked for an owner-run
business with a loyal staff.
Abraclean has been going for
20 years and is a nice little set
up. It is not making a pile of
cash, but is a nice steady
business."
Mr Stanley is originally from
the North-east and trained as
a MillWright before switching
to engineering. He bought the
Shakespeare Foundry in 2006
with his partner, Andrew
Howe, and quickly set up a
foundry in Egypt to serve the
North African market.
At the end of last year, they
bought a blast cleaning firm in
the North-east called James
Hogg & Son and have now
expanded that side of the
business with the purchase of
Abraclean.
The takeover was led by
accountancy firm Cowgill
Holloway, of Chorley Old Road,
Bolton. Paul Stringer, partner
at Cowgill Holloway, said: "We
hold a long-standing
relationship with the owners of
HS Steel UK.
"This has allowed us to
develop an intimate knowledge
of the business and its future
plans. We were keen to find a
business that would
complement the reputation of
Shakespeare and add value to
the group by offering new
services."
Mr Stanley says the firm is
passionate about keeping
manufacturing in the UK and
is looking for ways of adding
technical expertise to the
process to beat off competition
from cheaper foundries in
Asia.
He said: "A lot of foundries are
closing in the UK, but there
are also foundries doing well.
You just need to pick a product
that needs some engineering
input, you can't continue to
manufacture commodity
products."
Mr Stanley has targeted
another blast cleaning firm in
the North-east that he wants
to buy this year.
He added: "I am always
looking for opportunities. I
don't want to take over the
world, but nobody should ever
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