Beginning his career within the banking and wider financial services industry which included partnering with ambitious entrepreneurs and prominent business leaders at Coutts & Co, Matt joined Hambleton Steel, a steel designer and fabricator headquartered in North Yorkshire, in 2017 as its Financial Director. After the business was acquired by Embrace in 2022, Matt was subsequently promoted to Managing Director where he most recently helped to double the business’ revenue to £26.5m (FY23), representing a record annual turnover in the entire business’ history.
The news of Matt’s appointment comes hot on the heels of Embrace announcing the milestone acquisition of Shufflebottom last month, a steel fabrication company based in South Wales renowned for its innovative solutions and commitment to quality.
This is the second acquisition completed since Embrace acquired Hambleton Steel in 2022 which now contributes to the Group’s current combined revenue of c.£55m.
Embrace aims to harness the agility of smaller, innovative operators with the financial and capacity advantages of a larger group, and Matt will play an important role in cementing Embrace’s position as one of the major players in the British steel and wider construction industry with plans to achieve a Group revenue of over £100m within the next two years.
On his new appointment as Embrace’s COO, Matt Gibson, commented: “Becoming the COO of the Embrace Steel Group is a great honour for me and I look forward to building the Group to its true potential. We have an incredible hardworking and talented team behind us and our culture of partnership, something I’m deeply passionate about, will enable us to drive significant growth for the business in the years to come.”
Dominic Curnock, Co-Founder and Director at Embrace, added: “We have seen first-hand Matt’s dedication to pursue excellence across all aspects of Hambleton Steel which was clearly evident in not only the stellar financial results he produced but the culture he created throughout the business. We’re now looking forward to seeing Matt share his unique expertise across the Group and, in the process, enabling Embrace to become one of the UK’s leading structural steelwork businesses.”
