Manufacturer swoops for assets of 79-year-old engineering firm

THE assets of a Rotherham engineering firm which called in the administrators in October following a global downturn in the oil and gas market have been bought by a Cambridge-based manufacturer.

Stainless Metalcraft has acquired the assets of Whiteley Read, which was founded in 1937 and manufactures vessels and columns for blue chip companies including BP, Centrica and Shell, for an undisclosed sum.

It has a long track record supplying pressure vessels and packaged equipment, primarily to customers within the European oil and gas markets.

Stainless Metalcraft, which forms part of Avingtrans Energy & Medical division, specialises in manufacturing pressure, vacuum and cryogenic vessels for a variety of safety-critical industries, including oil and gas, nuclear and renewable energy, medical imaging and big science.
 
Austen Adams, managing director of Avingtrans’ Energy and Medical division, said: “I’m delighted to have completed this deal. While the oil & gas industry as a whole has been struggling in the wake of falling oil prices, Whiteley Read has an excellent reputation for the quality of its components and the business’s experience and capabilities strongly complement our own. The assets bring much needed additional capacity to meet our future growth plans.
 
“We have immediate contracts in place to fill the factory with overspill from existing operations, and real potential to develop additional business in both current and new markets.

“We will continue serve the market under the Whiteley Read name and I’m excited by the prospect of working to drive the company into better times.”