High-value metals specialist shows its steel

A forward-looking business is showing its metal the 21st Century rebirth of the industry that made Sheffield the envy of the world.

High-value metals specialist, Pro–Roll, based in the Steel City, is expanding as one of the UK’s leading suppliers of bespoke alloys for the aerospace, civil, nuclear, motorsport and bio-medical industries.

And its development is being backed by expert support and a £400,000 grant from the Sheffield City Region Growth Hub.

Quality and service, alongside the ability to have a flexible production model, were key principles for husband and wife team Symon and Gill Havenhand when they established the business in 2000.

Symon had seen that low-volume specialist products were the way ahead and he wanted Pro-Roll to produce bespoke, high-value metals in ingot and billet form.

The Havenhands found the perfect premises for expansion at the historic Pluto Works in Wadsley Bridge and the grant enabled Pro-Roll to buy melting equipment to begin development work.

Thanks to expansion, Pro-Roll has created five new posts, with a target of a further 20.

Symon Havenhand said: “Major consumers such as shipbuilders have gone abroad, and they have developed their own mass steel production in other countries.

“We are left with the high value requirements for aerospace and the nuclear and medical industries.

“We have the quality as long as we keep ahead in terms of research and development. As I see it, people will always want to fly, and to go in for motorsport; they’ll always need surgical implants – and those sectors all demand the highly-sophisticated metals we produce.

“When I first realised that, it gave me the impetus to further develop special metals production to high standards.

“We have a strong research and development ethos at Pro-Roll and we are constantly looking at the special metal materials the industries of the future require.

“We’re also utterly committed to providing high quality in all we do; we’ve invested in the technology that enables us to check and re-check at every stage that we are meeting the most demanding requirements of our clients, many of whom are global names and world leaders.

“A large part of the success of this new site is down to our staff, including retained staff from the acquired site – they are highly skilled and have a high degree of expertise.”

He added: “We couldn’t have done it without the help from the Growth Hub and Jo, and the financial assistance through the Sheffield City Region and Nat West made a very complex ambition come true.”