Manufacturer sold after two-year turnaround completes

Stainless Metalcraft has completed the sale of Rotherham-based Whiteley Read, which now has a turnover of £2.5m, to Glacier Energy Services.

Metalcraft acquired the assets of the iconic British manufacturer, which has a long track record supplying pressure vessels and packaged equipment to customers in European oil and gas markets, in December 2016.

The sale marks the successful completion of Metalcraft’s two-year turnaround plan for the company, which has provided valuable additional manufacturing capacity for its parent company while also processing new business.

Austen Adams, managing director of Avingtrans’ Process Solutions and Rotating Equipment division – which is home to both Stainless Metalcraft and Whiteley Read – said: “We’re delighted to be able to hand the business on to new owners in Glacier who have a shared appreciation of the heritage, skills and potential that exists at Whiteley Read.

“When we acquired the assets back in 2016, we were keen to reinvigorate the brand while retaining skills and scarce, large-scale manufacturing facilities in the UK. From a standing start, the business is now turning over £2.5 million per year and has worked on a number of flagship projects over the last two years, including a complete glycol regeneration plant for the Timimoun Field Development in Algeria and components for Storengy UK’s Stublach Gas Storage Project Phase 2.”

Scott Martin, executive chairman, Glacier Energy Services, said: “Whiteley Read has an excellent reputation in the market and is strategically a good fit for Glacier sitting alongside our existing capability in the design and manufacture of heat exchangers.  As a result, the combined business will be able to offer a wider range of products to clients in the international energy market under the Glacier Whiteley Read brand.”