News: Rotherham export experts set for expansion with £20m Santander support

Advanced Alloy Services, a Rotherham-based supplier of high purity metals, revert and toll-process for the manufacture of high temperature superalloys, has received a £20m funding package from Santander Corporate and Commercial Banking.

The aim is to grow its business both domestically and internationally, as it pursues its strategy for growth in the UK, US and Asia.

Founded in 1993 the company underwent an MBO in 2019 and now operates from a purpose built 44,000 sq ft facility in Dinnington on the former colliery site supplying high purity pure metals and fully processed and certified superalloy revert to customers all over the world.

The new financing agreement will also allow the business to expand its partnerships with UK universities to research and develop new critical metals recovery processes with material from secondary sources. Financial support from Santander will facilitate these crucial innovation projects and help the UK develop security of supply of critical minerals and metals, essential for key infrastructure projects. Metal recovery projects will also help towards Net Zero targets, by reducing reliance of metals from primary sources and corresponding high carbon emissions from mining and refining processes.

Earlier this year, Advanced Alloy Services was recognised for its outstanding achievements in International Trade with a King’s Award for Enterprise. A presentation recently took place in Dinnington with His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, Dame Hilary Chapman.

The firm has a turnover of £56.7m and employs over 40 people.

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Stephen Hall, Managing Director, Advanced Alloy Services, said: "With our new financing arrangement, Santander has differentiated themselves from other banks. Crucially, they have demonstrated support for the UK metals industry and with it the UK Critical Mineral Strategy, helping security of supply essential for key infrastructure. The onboarding team have been exceptional and facilitated a smooth transition in record time."

Liz Pickering, Relationship Director, Santander Corporate and Commercial, added: “We are delighted to have supported Advanced Alloy Services and delivered a bespoke refinance package which will support the company’s exciting opportunity for UK and international growth. Advanced Alloy Services Ltd is a well-established local business growing in its sector. The remit at the outset from the management team was to provide a flexible funding solution to enable the metal supplier to maximise international growth, which we achieved by working alongside UKEF. This has been collaborative approach, and we look forward to continue working with the Advanced Alloy team.”

The package includes a £10m General Export Finance facility (GEF), £10m Invoice Finance, FX facilities, and transactional banking, which offers the metals business flexibility, tailored to its needs.

Advanced Alloy Services website
Santandar website

Images: Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire / x

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News: Three Rotherham firms win King's Awards for Enterprise

Three Rotherham-based companies have been recognised for their achievements in innovation and international trade.

King’s Award for Enterprise celebrates outstanding achievement by UK businesses and is internationally recognised.

This year's recipients include Dinnington's Advanced Alloy Services Ltd, Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) based, SBD Apparel, and near neighbours, Advanced Manufacturing (Sheffield) Ltd (AML) of Catcliffe.

Originally a spin-out from the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) at the University of Sheffield, AML is now recognised as a market leader in delivering flexible manufacturing capability at the leading edge of machining technologies and efficiencies, with particular expertise in aerospace, defence and energy components.

The 100-strong team has been awarded the King’s Award for Enterprise Innovation.

The award was driven by funding from the Aerospace Technology Institute for the Automotive Excellence for Aerospace (AXIS) project around reducing production times in aerospace component manufacture. The successful implementation of the project and the development of AML’s high-rate production has resulted in AML securing long term contracts for the production of components for regional business jet engines.

The funding also resulted in eight new roles to support the a production cell built to manufacture components, consisting of six machine operators and two manufacturing engineers.

Dr Gareth Morgan, managing director at AML, said: “This is an incredible achievement for the whole AML team and a recognition of our expertise and commitment to excellence. Innovation was hard wired into our DNA from the very beginning which is why the most demanding customers on the planet, from aerospace and defence to land based gas turbines that complement the green energy/renewable sector, trust us with the manufacture of strategically critical components.”

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Advanced Alloy Services was recognised for its outstanding achievements in International Trade.

Founded in 1993 the company underwent an MBO in 2019 and now operates from a purpose built 44,000 sq ft facility in Dinnington on the former colliery site supplying high purity pure metals and fully processed and certified superalloy revert to customers all over the world.

A spokesperson for Advanced Alloy Services, said: "We are proud to support the drive towards net zero by effectively recycling and recovering secondary revert, reducing the requirements for primary metals and the associated high carbon emissions from mining and refining. We have ambitious plans to grow our international footprint and global sales, the accolade from the King’s Award will be instrumental in helping realise these aspirations."

SBD Apparel, the global market leader in strength sports apparel, clothing and accessories worldwide, has been for its outstanding achievements in International Trade.

SBD Apparel, which counts elite strength and fitness athletes across the world amongst its growing client base, as well as being synonymous with the World’s Strongest Man Competition, successfully opened a new manufacturing hub at Rotherham’s Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in 2022.

The move to new 100,000 sq ft premises was part of a desire to boost exports. The company now sells in markets including Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany, Spain, Italy, Norway and Iceland. Each retailer is given exclusivity to sell SBD products in their territory, receiving support with branding, website, enquiries and customer services to ensure the retailer shares in the brand’s success.

AML website
Advanced Alloy Services website
SBD Apparel website

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News: MBO at Rotherham alloy firm

Rotherham-based Alloy Services Limited has been acquired in a multi-million-pound management buy-out.

The £30m turnover processor and supplier of speciality alloys is based in Dinnington and was established over 25 years ago by Alan Fisher. It has developed to become one of the UK's leading specialists in processing and recycling high-temperature alloys and metals. The company supplies products for extremely demanding end-use applications, in industries such as aerospace, oil & gas and medical.

The company has been acquired by its managing director, Stephen Hall, with funding to support the transaction provided by Shawbrook Bank.

Hall said: "Firstly, my thanks must go to Alan who has nurtured and developed Advanced since its inception over 25 years ago. It's this legacy that I will be building on, and I'm absolutely delighted to have the opportunity of taking this exceptional business into the next chapter of its growth. We will of course be continuing to work closely with our suppliers and customers, with the support of the fantastic staff here at Advanced."

BHP Corporate Finance acted as lead advisor on the transaction.

Kevin Davies, partner at BHP, said: "I am delighted to see Advanced Alloys step into this next exciting stage, Stephen has ambitious plans for the future of the business. An innovative funding package was required to support both the structure of the deal and Advanced's working capital cycle. It is further demonstration of the funding appetite we are seeing for carefully prepared and structured transactions."

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Nick Salmons from Shawbrook Bank, added: "At Shawbrook we've worked on a number of advisor-led MBOs this year and this is a great example of how working closely with the team at BHP and Advanced Alloy Services has delivered another solution that doesn't just support the transaction but also provides the headroom to deliver further growth."

Peter Crawford and Emily Pogson of Freeths provided legal advice. Peter said: "Advanced is a very strong business with a great future ahead of it. We have enjoyed working with Stephen to bring this transaction to completion and we look forward to watching Advanced continue to develop and grow under his direction."

Other local advisors to the transaction were Paul Trudgill and James Burdekin of Keebles who acted for the vendors, and Dean Gormley and Hayley Johnson at Irwin Mitchell who acted for Shawbrook.

Advanced Alloy Services website

Images: Shawbrook Bank

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