News

In the frame. Award-winning aluminium automotive supplier appoints three new directors (4/12/2007)

Europe’s leading bonded automotive structure company, Holden Aluminium, has recently appointed three new directors at its Worcester Shrub Hill plant.

The company makes body parts and crash structures for iconic car brands including Aston Martin, BMW, Jaguar and Lotus and employs a total of 177 people at plants in Bromyard and Worcester. The firm recently won the Accelerate Manufacturing Large SME award at a prestigious ceremony at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham and was also named best Automotive Manufacturing Supplier in the West Mercia region. The plant provided the chassis for the Aston Martin racing Team’s DBR9 car which won this year’s 24 hour race at Le Mans driven by David Brabham, Rickard Rydell and Darren Turner.

Bob Dorney-Smith has been appointed Sales Director at the Worcester site. Bob has had an illustrious career in the aluminium industry. Having studied for a degree in Materials at Sussex University and following a stint as a sports and science teacher, Bob went on to pursue a career in the automotive engineering industry. He spent six years working for Ford Motor Cars at their Dunton plant specialising in materials. He then spent another eleven years working for Stadco in Coventry working on aluminium and white body structures. He joined Hydro in Worcester in1997 as a Project Manager and then went on to specialise in sales and development. When Hydro was taken over by Holden Aluminium earlier on this year, it was appropriate for Bob to join the new Board of Directors.

Commenting on his new appointment Bob said,

“Our aim at the Worcester site is to focus towards meeting the light weight body structure needs of the automotive industry and to look forward to the challenging future provided by the low volume car sector.”

Pete Bullivant-Clark has been appointed Technical Director at Holden Aluminium and has also spent many years working in the aluminium automotive engineering industry. He studied Mining and Engineering at Leeds University and then spent time working in the gold mining industry in South Africa. On returning to the UK, he joined British Aluminium which was based in Buckinghamshire and remained with the company when it was taken over by Alcan. He spent eleven years there working as a Test Engineer. Pete then went on to set up his own company in Aylesbury which was funded by Hydro and eventually became a subsidiary of the firm. Here he was a Technical Director.

Pete then went on to work full-time for Hydro and was transferred to Denmark to work on an automotive project. After six years, Peter returned to the UK and was employed at the Worcester site. Pete was the 15th member of staff to join Hydro and when the firm was sold to Holden Aluminium earlier on this year, the Group employed over 3,000 people.

As Technical Director, Pete is responsible for looking after the design and all the processes leading up to production.

Commenting on his new position at Holden Aluminium Peter said,
“There are a lot of changes in the industry. There are more pressures on cost and a demand to produce light weight environmentally friendly cars that will reduce CO2 emissions.  We see the future for Holden Aluminium in the luxury end of the car market but in time, other manufacturers will also have to sit up and think about how to make vehicles greener and the work that we do at Worcester will mean that this company is best placed to meet these challenges.”

Finally, Deborah Collins has been appointed Financial Director. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Chartered Management Accountants and has worked for a number of manufacturing, engineering and automotive companies. She spent six years working at the head office of GKN as an Audit Manager working on international operations and then joined Hydro in 1998 as a Finance Manager. In her new post as Financial Director, Deborah will be managing the financial needs of the Worcester company.

Commenting on the new appointments, Richard Williams, Managing Director of Holden Aluminium said,

“We are delighted to welcome, Bob, Pete and Deborah on to the Board of Directors. The firm faces many exciting challenges in the coming years and their experience will be a great boost in our efforts to make the firm expand and develop.”

Race winning engineering from Holden Alumnium Worcester Ltd as their world beating aluminum chassis helps the Aston Martin Racing Team triumph at Le Mans 2007 (21/06/2007)

Global leader and Europe’s leading independent, bonded automotive structure company Worcestershire-based Holden Aluminum Worcester Ltd (HAW)  supplied the chassis for the Aston Martin Racing Team which triumphed at this year’s 24-hour race at Le Mans.

The Holden Aluminum Group employs 190 people across its two sites in Bromyard and Worcester. The Worcester factory specialises in making full body structures and crash management systems for iconic companies including Aston Martin, BMW, Jaguar and Lotus.

HAW supplied the Aston Martin Racing Team whose drivers include  David Brabham, Tomas Enge, Johnny Herbert, Peter Kox, Rickard Rydell and, Darren Turner  with a specially designed DBR9 chassis for its cars. Special elements of this build include the inclusion of superformed components, a cast aluminum windshield surround and a number of suspension casting all incorporated into the overall structural bonding philosophy.

 With a rigid chassis, lightweight materials, optimum weight distribution and a powerful Aston Martin 6.0 litre, normally aspirated V12 engine, the road going DB9 is an excellent starting point for the production of the DBR9.

The name DBR9 is derived from the original Le Mans-winning DBR1 car, which not only won the 24 Hour race in 1959 but the World Sportscar title too.

Aston Martin Racing have built a number of DBR9s, which are run by Works and customer teams in the major international GT series around the world. The DBR9 uses the DB9 road car’s aluminum chassis and uses the V12 engine’s cylinder block and heads to develop the race unit. After this the car is re-engineered for competition use.

This was the first time since 1959 that Aston Martin had triumphed at Le Mans. The winning Aston Martin Racing with InterContinental Hotels & Resorts DBR9 – numbered 009 – was driven to GT1 class victory and a remarkable fifth overall by David Brabham, Rickard Rydell and Darren Turner after 24 hours of non-stop competition, characterised by changeable conditions and several safety car periods.

Aston Martin’s double podium underlined the impressive performance and reliability of the DBR9

The 1959 Le Mans-winning DBR1 appeared at the Legends race in Le Mans on Saturday morning before the start of the main event, driven by Sir Stirling Moss and Dr Bez. Now, 48 years later, the victorious Aston Martin DBR9 will next appear at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Britain from June 23-24.

Commenting on the Aston Martin Racing Team Partnership Jeremy Holden, Chairman of Holden Aluminum Worcester said,

"Holden Aluminum Worcester Ltd is honored to become an official partner to the Aston Martin Racing Team.

“We have worked with Aston Martin over a number of years creating innovative, lightweight aluminum chassis for their cars and this partnership deal enables us to further cement our close working relationship with the company.

“I am also extremely happy that the HAW team responsible for building DBR9 race winning chassis will receive the world recognition they deserve"