The leader of Dudley Council visited a thermal spray equipment manufacturer approaching its 100th anniversary as part of a pledge to help businesses coming out of the pandemic.

Councillor Patrick Harley’s visit to Metallisation was part of his Made in Dudley Borough initiative to help borough firms bounce back bigger, better and bolder after the lockdowns of the past 18 months. The borough’s top politician had a tour with bosses from the company - which is based in Peartree Lane, Brierley Hill, and has been trading since 1922 – and got to see the firm’s business in operation. 

Metallisation is one of the leading manufacturers in the world of metal spraying systems and its equipment is used widely within the automotive, aerospace, oil, gas and manufacturing industries.

The firm has been in the news recently for a number of projects, including working with Plasmatrack to revolutionise the cleaning of rail track, and with Rolls-Royce on the revolutionary use of robotic snake arms to help with engine maintenance.

It is also keen to invest in the future, and will later this year take on a couple of apprentices from Dudley College. Bosses hope they will be able to work their way up the ladder and forge a career with the company. Dudley Council has already given out £150million worth of support to businesses during the pandemic.

But Councillor Harley has pledged the council will do even more to get businesses booming again following a tough year. Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley Council, said:

"People tell us there are no manufacturing firms in the borough any more – but here is proof that there is, and they are thriving. Metallisation is not just a national leader in its field, but a global one, and exactly the sort of business we should be championing in our borough.

"They are a pioneering business helping numerous industries change what they do for the better. Like all firms, the last year will have been tough. But they haven’t been trading for more than 100 years without showing the resilience and fight you need to be successful and I am delighted to see they are still here fighting to go for another 100 years.

"We have shown a lot of support for businesses like this over the past 18 months but we must double our efforts to make sure they can bounce back bigger, better, bolder from the toughest year in living memory."

Made in Dudley Borough aims to celebrate and highlight the work of local businesses. Senior council leaders are planning to tour many of the businesses to see first-hand their work and speak to bosses about support from the council.

The council is also working hard to cut red tape and offer a helping hand to local businesses when contracting them for work as part of its social value policy. Dudley Business First, the council’s business arm, offers all-year-round support to business on grants, accessing finance and much more. Stuart Milton, managing director of Metallisation, added:

"The last 18 months has definitely been challenging with Covid and Brexit. The uncertainty has been the biggest issue but focusing on the basics -guiding our staff through the uncertainty, customer service and sensible business decisions - has helped us through.

"We are proud that we only needed to take advantage of a small amount of furlough support and have not needed any grant funding, preferring to leave those for companies with greater need than us.

"As we continue to grow, the challenges of Brexit and the loss of EU VAT simplification is creating the biggest issues but as always, we will work through the issues as best we can. We’re very proud to continue to invest in engineering research and development with our Plasmatrack and Rolls-Royce projects as well as our own core product development.

"We’re also actively looking at starting another apprenticeship this year to do our small part in continuing the great history of British engineering. We’re very much looking forward to our centenary next year and setting the company on a strong path for the next century, one decade at a time."

If you would like to take part in the Made in Dudley Borough initiative, you can visit dudleybusinessfirst.org.uk.