News

To celebrate its move from Southampton to new headquarters in Milton Keynes, the UK subsidiary of German sawing and storage equipment manufacturer, KASTO, held a two-day open house on 11th and 12th November 2009.

Lee Shaw officially marked the opening of the HQ on the 11^th November by cutting a ceremonial ribbon. Armin Stolzer, chairman, joint managing director and owner of the KASTO Group who flew in from Germany especially for the event, is pictured centre. UK managing director, Ernst Wagner is on the right.

The new premises in Garamonde Drive, Wymbush, Milton Keynes, comprises offices, a showroom with demonstration facilities and warehousing for key spares.

Click www.kasto.uk.com for further information

ASA DUTCH PARTY 2009

This year’s ASA Dutch Party was held on 22nd October at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Birmingham. The guest speaker was Karren Brady, probably the best known businesswoman in Britain today, who gave a rare and entertaining insight into the challenge of restoring the fortunes of a Premier League football club. The event was attended by 125 members and guests and heard Lee Shaw give the Chair’s address where she congratulated the members on their survival in difficult economic times. The "note raffle" raised £1,892 for her nominated charity, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
As well as having an enjoyable evening amongst friends and colleagues there was an auction, ably conducted by Derek Webb, to raise £4,055 as a donation to Sparks, our nominated charity. Members can view the photographs of the evening by clicking here and entering their ASA website editor user ID and password.

In conjunction with money raised at the ASA Golf Day in July at the Dyrham Park Country Club, we will be donating £11,356 to Sparks this year.

Thanks were given to the venue and to those in the ASA and ALFED who organised this successful and enjoyable event.

The Sparks Golf Day last year was held on 30th July at Dyrham Park Country Club. Members and their guests played alongside England ex-footballer and pundit Matt Le Tissier and others from the sporting and entertainment world, raising funds for the Sparks charity. The 2009 event raised £7,301 and took the total ASA donation to Sparks up to £11,356 for 2009. Following the success of 2009’s Golf Day, we will be returning to Dyrham Park for this year’s event on 12th August. More...

A new Commercial Apprenticeship Scheme to recruit and train young people for jobs in sales, purchasing and administration was launched by the Aluminium Stockholders Association (ASA), one of the Aluminium Federation’s Member Associations, on 1 August 2008. The Scheme is being co-ordinated by MetSkill, the metals industry training specialists, with the JHP Group as training providers.

The ASA’s Training Committee, chaired by Sarah Clark of Smiths Metal Centres Limited, identified requirements from member companies for apprenticeship recruitment and training. “We have worked with MetSkill and JHP to set up this Scheme with an ASA focus”, says Sarah Clark. “We are looking to recruit 16-18 year olds and provide them with a comprehensive training programme”.

The Commercial Apprenticeship Scheme is divided into two parts – Core Training and Enhanced Training.

Core Training The Core job skills in sales, purchase and administration will be delivered by JHP Training through a standard Customer Service or Business Administration apprenticeship.

Enhanced Training Enhanced Training will be co-ordinated by MetSkill for skills specific to the Aluminium Stockholding sector, over and above standard commercial apprenticeship skills.

The ASA will provide training courses in Aluminium Product Knowledge, Lean Manufacturing, Presentation Skills and Team Working/Leading.
Customer visits and networking and social events will also be organised.
The successful apprentices will be awarded ASA Certification at the end of a 27-month training period.

“I am very confident that this exciting new, industry-wide scheme, badged by ASA, will attract potential recruits through a professional approach to career entry and training”, says ASA Chairman, Karl Weston of Blackburns Metals Ltd. “Our member companies will also benefit by sharing resources to promote the sector and for delivery of common training elements.”

Note to Editors For further details please contact Richard Mahoney, Public Affairs Executive, Aluminium Federation, on 0121 601 6361 (email r_mahoney@alfed.org.uk)

A portable, self-contained work space, available in module format, has won a top prize in the ‘Power of Aluminium’ Awards for 2008.
Volume Products Limited, based in Huddersfield, won the Consumer Engineered Products category for their unique ‘Airea’ work space module.
The £8,000 Award was presented to the company at the ‘Power of Aluminium’ Awards Dinner on Thursday 17 April 2008 at Warwick University by fashion designer and architect, Wayne Hemingway, and the Chairman of the UK Aluminium Stockholders Association (ASA), Karl Weston, who is Managing Director of Blackburns Metals Limited.
The Award was sponsored by the ASA, a Member Association of the Aluminium Federation. “I am delighted to present this Award on behalf of the ASA to recognise outstanding innovation and flexibility of design”, said Mr Weston.
The judges praised the project for being quick and easy to assemble and for offering a solution to design within a listed building. 70% of the product features aluminium extrusions and is 90% recyclable. The judges added that it is environmentally friendly, and reduced noise.

For further information, visit the POA website www.powerofaluminium.com