The People of CastAlum – A Lifetime in Die Casting – Peter Radcliffe
This month in our interview series: former Managing Director and Chairman of CastAlum, Peter Radcliffe, shares with us his story of working in the die casting industry for 60 years!
An unexpected beginning
I left Grammar school In July 1963 at the age of 16 and applied and was accepted into my dream existence of a graphic arts course at Birmingham School of Arts and Crafts. My dream existence was not to be. This was in the days before sick pay was the norm. My Dad fell seriously ill; my Mum decided we needed another wage coming into the house and so five years of graphic arts training was put on the backburner, and I was to find a job urgently. Towards this end, my Mum was going to make sure I applied for as many vacancies that fell within my school qualifications and non-existent work experience!
I started work (reasonably urgently) in August 1963. So, my work tenure does not qualify fully as a lifetime but my passage of time to 76 years of age has certainly been dominated by the business of working in foundries. My starting workplace was BSK aluminium in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham. BSK was surrounded by small businesses associated with the jewellery trade, and being a generator of smoke, smell and noise, was not universally viewed as a good neighbour. After one week of work at BSK I was horrified at the prospect of starting the process again on the following Monday – I hated the noise, the heat, the smell and indeed the people. Diecasting staff in those days were all tough and uncompromising and my first week had not endeared me to them – or them to me. Everyone who worked in the industry seemed to be a character and mostly they had names to match. It would be difficult now to imagine a company that employed a Jimmy the Ferret; Johnny Durex; Charlie Wick Wack (to name but a few of the bunch). Yet BSK employed them all and they were highly skilled within their abilities. If after the first week I couldn’t countenance another minute at BSK, then after 6 months I couldn’t countenance working anywhere else. I had joined a Band of Brothers united in a hard industry and I had become strengthened by being one of the gang. We were universally skint and borrowed and paid back as funds allowed. We borrowed largely to support an after-work drink, at a time when a pint was 8 pence in old money! Everyone I worked with bought into the premise that foundries were a killer, that no-one would make ‘old bones’, and that retirement was a haven unlikely to be reached. These sentiments were largely right as I am the only one of my peers to have proved the exception to the rule.
Moving through the ranks
From this rather unpromising start BSK grew, passed through a number of ownerships, and finally landed within the corporate responsibility of a large manufacturing group. At that stage I was the Managing Director of BSK, with a further role as Operations Director for the whole group: tacitly responsible for 17 companies and 4000 people. My annual mileage was such that my car was changed every 2 years and, it being the early days of the car phone, mobile communication was an absolute boon. After 37 years working for BSK I was headhunted by an American company, Contech, and, as our corporate owners were looking shaky, I decided to take a closer look at what was on offer. After much toing and froing to understand what was on offer, I decided to take the option of a new course and settled on employment with the brand new Contech offering. It was a great wrench to leave behind the many people I worked with at BSK, people I respected and liked, but Contech spelt a new and exciting chapter. My initial week of employment was spent touring Contech facilities in the US. This unnerving week was spent in the company of Contech’s in-house psychologist (who wrung every piece of personality indicating information from me!) On my return I visited the greenfield site in Welshpool where the Contech plant was to be based. Leaning on the gate of the large field that the factory and offices were to occupy I was soon approached by a watchman and a large snarling dog. The watchman encouraged me to remove myself (in Anglo Saxon language!) In response to his aggressive attitude, I enquired if he knew who I was. He responded in the negative and again told me to clear off. I then informed him I was the Managing Director of the plant to be built in the area he was guarding. He thought for a minute and, grinning contemptuously, he replied “Managing Director eh,” then, sweeping an arm across the vacant space, “which one’s your office then?” I retreated!
Casting at CastAlum
This unpromising interlude led to a totally promising and rewarding time with Contech which lasted until the financial crisis of 2009 when finances for the group were stretched. The financial crisis was an ill-wind that blew myself and my colleagues some good as we were able to buy the business from a cash strapped Contech. Since that time the company has prospered in size and revenues to become an entity of which I will always be proud. Since the takeover, new, state of the art equipment has been installed and the matter of installing new management, as oldsters like me disappear, has been skilfully done to leave an enthusiastic, committed, and skilled team of leaders in charge. The manual diecasting industry that I knew for years has been blown away by High Pressure diecasting technology that constantly develops to promote new levels of productivity and quality. This technology hardware is underpinned by internal skills, application, and commitment levels suitable for a young, high class, thrusting company and CastAlum, I believe, is widely regarded as the best aluminium pressure die caster in the UK. The company produces and sells hundreds of thousands of high-quality parts each week and applies manufacturing, testing, and control measures that are world class. In conjunction with this, CastAlum successfully applies itself to the constantly developing needs of employee welfare, and interface, and environmental compliance.
In conclusion: I started work 60 years ago as an office boy, entering into a hard industry that I came to love, and worked with people that I will always regard as brothers. I have ended my career as Chairman of a company of which I am immensely proud, a Company passed into the hands of people that I will always regard as friends.
CastAlum and Industry Friends at Peter’s Retirement Dinner
Peter Radcliffe
Former MD and Chairman of CastAlum
