Wednesbury-based Alucast, which celebrates its 50th birthday this year, will start work on the new facility in June. It will house the company’s existing CAD and MAGMA® casting simulation facilities, non-destructive testing capabilities and the firm’s new 5-axis CNC technology.
The company is targeting £3m of new ‘lightweighting’ opportunities for castings in the automotive and agricultural sectors. They will also look to recruit an additional 20 employees – including engineers and apprentices – to cope with the planned expansion to £10m in sales.
John Swift, managing director of Alucast, was upbeat about the company’s future. “2017 will be a year where we celebrate our history and the achievements of our staff, but it will also be a time where we put a marker in the sand for the next 50 years,” he said.
“Alucast has progressed a long way from a local jobbing shop foundry to and international aluminium foundry capable of competing with our global rivals by offering customers a complete supply service.”
On top of the top and bottom caps for the Olympic Torch, Alucast has also made brake callipers for the Bugatti Veyron. The company has been run by the current team of Swift and Tony Sartorius since 2003, and now boasts annual sales of £7m with 105 employees.
“We are already working with luxury vehicle manufacturers and there’s a lot of interest in bringing work back to the UK,” said Sartorius, the company’s chairman. “This investment in the new technical centre and machining shop … means we’re in a prime position to take advantage of that and reinforce our position as a global leader in structural and other complex components.”
