Foredowel Ltd the general engineering, fabrication and machining business based at Seaway Parade, Port Talbot has turned from tenant to landlord after acquiring the current business premises after a £400,000 investment supported by Barclays.
Established over 41 years ago, Foredowel Ltd now employs 12 staff and exceeds £1.2 million turnover. Originally established to offer site engineering services to Port Talbot steel works the business has now branched out into other areas such as structural steelwork, heavy duty and machine shop engineering in order to diversify income streams and provide essential job security to this family run company.
Robert Jones, Managing Director of Foredowel Ltd said:
“I started working at Foredowel when I was 16 and take great pride in continuing the growth of the company, that began with my father.
“With rising rental costs, it seemed logical to approach Barclays to generate a funding package to purchase the unit, after their support in 2020 on a management buyout.
“Investing and expanding post Brexit and during a pandemic might seem strange but we have continued to grow, investing in new technologies and automation allowing us to meet these challenges head on. Acquiring the premises provides security for the company and the employees and places a valuable asset on the balance sheet. Win.. win.”
Sophie Shrimpton, Barclays Business Manager, said:
“As champions of local business, it is essential that we support local growing businesses such as Foredowel Ltd which are so important in local communities. Robert is 3rd generation family member to work in the company and understands the tradition and responsibility that carries. By really understanding the sector and the individuals involved, we have been able to create a funding package to support the business throughout the acquisition.”
Stephen Kinnock MP for Aberavon said:
“Businesses like Foredowel are at the heart of the local community providing skilled employment and supporting the local economy. It is great to hear of a local family business growing and expanding in challenging times like these, but thanks to the support they’ve received from Barclays they’ve been able to build on their success.”
Robert continues:
“We are well positioned within a growing market, with a loyal client base and have used the investments supported by Barclays to secure our future, retain valuable local jobs and diversify our services offered. Running a business can be tough but it's a pleasure to employ a very skilled workforce that holds the same values and principles as the company. We continue to invest in new technology and in the last twelve months added a new CNC milling machine & CNC Lathe, to complement our conventional manual operations.
“We have recently acquired a second unit, for our newly incorporated sister company to offer sheet Metal works including CNC laser cutting & CNC folding. This investment has allowed us to remove the subcontract works on a large portion of our work and will allow us to offer this service to other engineering companies in our local area”.
“I’m sure as Laser Profiling Limited grows over the coming years, Barclays will be there to support us”.
For further information, visit www.foredowel.com & www.laser-profiling.com
