Employee ownership scheme extended to all staff

All staff at a wire manufacturer are now shareholders thanks to a recently completed management buy-out (MBO).

Alloy Wire International (AWI), which has two sites in the West Midlands and Yorkshire, was purchased by Directors Tom Mander, Andrew Du Plessis and Adam Shaw in January, with the new management team immediately extending the firm’s Employee Ownership scheme to include all 33 employees.

The move has meant Bill Graham fulfilled his 23-year vision of giving staff shared ownership so they can benefit from its growth.

Tom Mander, managing director, commented: “Bill’s decision at the start of the millennium gave us a distinctive edge to our business and this was something Mark Venables took on when he led the previous MBO in 2013.

“Working our way up in the business, we have seen first-hand what the employee ownership scheme has meant and the sense of commitment and pride it brings. It was a natural decision to use our own MBO to include the new members of staff and get all 33 employees on the same scheme”.

Alloy Wire International manufactures round, flat and profile wire in over 60 Exotic alloys, such as Inconel, Monel, Hastelloy, Nimonic and Waspaloy.

AWI has gone from taking in £1m in 2000 to £12.8m at the start of 2022 and its on course for nearly £18m by the close of the year.