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UK - Mayor visits iconic Melton business on one of his final public engagements

Councillor Peter Faulkner, who finishes his year in office next week, toured the Holwell Works site to find out about its history and the work it now carries out.

Lesedauer: min

The borough’s civic leader was accompanied by Deputy Mayor, Councillor Alan Hewson, who is expected to take over the chains of office at the next full council meeting on Thursday.

Many will know the Asfordby Hill foundry as Holwell Works but it is officially known as the Saint-Gobain PAM plant after being taken over by the global group back in 1985.

Councillors Faulkner and Hewson met with PAM’s operations director, Andrew Harris, and learned a little about the history of Holwell Works and how locally-cast ductile iron access covers and gratings for the highways and telecommunications industries are sent all over the UK and as far afield as New Zealand and the Middle East.

The Mayor and his deputy also enjoyed a guided tour of the foundry, to see the melting of the scrap metal right through to the casting, moulding and finishing processes which underpin the manufacturing processes at the site.


They were treated to a lunch with managers and staff to round off the visit.

The first furnace was tapped at Holwell in 1881 and the site was later expanded to include a foundry to cast the pig iron produced by the furnaces.

Holwell has had a variety of owners over the past 140 years, including the British Steel Corporation.

The business today manufactures over 300 products and has clients within sector such as infrastructure (highways and local councils), water and utilities plus telecommunications.

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