Gloria de Piero, Member of Parliament for Ashfield and Eastwood has officially opened Alpha Rail’s new manufacturing facility in Huthwaite.
Over 40 customers, staff, and suppliers attended the event to celebrate the company’s move to its new purposely designed workshops and offices. Many of the local contractors involved in the £800k refurbishment also attended.
Before being elected as an MP, Gloria was GMTV’s Political Editor. She has previously worked as a journalist on the Politics Show at the BBC. Ms de Piero is an open and accessible Member of Parliament and regularly visits voters and businesses within her constituency.
Commenting on her visit to Alpha Rail she said, “Over its 30-year history, Alpha Rail has played an important part in the local economy, providing employment for generations of local people. Their growth and expansion into this fantastic new facility represents the next phase of their development and I wish them every success.”
Founded in 1985, Alpha Rail has over 30 years of metal fabricating expertise and is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of metal railings, pedestrian guardrail, Juliette balconies and metal gates.
Steve Shirley, Managing Director added, “We completed our relocation in January and are now all settled in. The response from customers and other visitors has been excellent. Having a modern facility has definitely benefited our production capacity, the efficiency in which we can work, and is ultimately helping to continuously improve our customer service and delivery lead time. The move has also given employee morale a further boost.”
Alpha Rail has many very loyal long standing employees, some of whom have been with the company since 1985 and have seen generations of their family join the business and get involved in many prestigious projects across the UK. Many of the projects in which Alpha Rail has been involved have won their category in the prestigious British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) Awards.
Phil Ball, Sales Director added, “Whilst we play only a minor part in a landscaping project, we are always delighted when the overall project achieves award recognition. We can now be proud that our new work environment matches the quality of the metalwork we manufacture.”
Other notable local projects have included the Hucknall Town Centre Improvement Scheme, the A453 widening project on Remembrance Way and the £5.2m renovation of Forest Recreation Ground.
The new facility is located on Nunn Brook Rise on The County Estate in Huthwaite. Alpha Rail has re-developed the site to create one open plan unit which now provides over 16,000 square feet of floor space and two storey office space. In total, over £800k has been invested to include reconfiguration of the factory floor to accommodate metalworking machinery and dedicated areas for each fabricating process.
Alpha Rail employs over 40 staff and currently has a turnover of £3m. The aim is to break through the £3m turnover barrier by continuing to manufacture metal work for road improvement, housing regeneration, and school playground projects. The company works on behalf of some of the UK’s largest building and landscaping contractors such as Willmott Dixon, Robert Woodhead, Carillion Tarmac and Ground Control.
