Northern Ireland's Technical Metals Group announces plans for 120 new jobs and £3.5m investment

UK and Ireland firm, Technical Metals Group (TMG) has announced plans to create up to 120 new jobs and invest £3.5m in Northern Ireland over the next three years as part of an ambitious growth strategy.

The company, which owns Technical Metals in Newtownards and Springco NI in Portadown, offers customers across the globe a range of solutions to all their aluminium manufacturing and finishing requirements.

Technical Metals Group has already appointed 26 new members of staff over the last 18 months including Kieron Kent as its new group managing director. In addition to this, a £500,000 investment in new factory plant at Technical Metals has recently been completed including the installation of a water borewell at the Technical Metals factory in Kiltonga.

Over the last 30 years, Springco has been actively involved in supplying quality spring solutions into several different Space Missions, most recently in April of this year the European Space Agency's (ESA) mission to explore Jupiter and its icy moons safely launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Whilst Technical Metals works across an extensive range of industries throughout the world including aerospace, defence, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, engineering and architectural.

Technical Metals was founded in 1984 by Raymond Callaghan, the late husband of the company’s chairwoman, Anne Marie. It then acquired Springco NI in 1999 and Abbicoil Springs Ltd in 2003 to complement and add to its range of products and services to local and international companies. Almost 40 years later the company is set to embark on its biggest growth strategy to date.

Anne Marie Callaghan, chairwoman of Technical Metals Group, said: “Post Covid, we have enjoyed one of the company’s strongest periods of growth with a 23% increase in year-on-year sales. We are delighted to have appointed Kieron Kent as the new group managing director who has been responsible for driving the strategic growth of the Technical Metals Group and has been pivotal in implementing huge changes to the business that ensures we are well placed for the years ahead.

"In addition to this, we have strengthened our senior management team with several key appointments including Ursula Magee as group finance director and Connor Jordan as group operations director.

“It is no secret that females are underrepresented in the manufacturing industry, however at TMG, I am delighted to say that we have a growing number of women throughout the business and as part of our senior management team helping to lead the company. I am very proud of the entire TMG workforce and what they have achieved to date and with our new structure and strategy in place, we are working together with a shared vision as we enter a new phase of global growth, which the board and I are very excited about. We currently have highly experienced teams made up of 64 employees working at all levels and a strategic plan to grow that number to 160 over the next three years.”

Kieron Kent, managing director, added: “I am delighted to be leading TMG’s fantastic management team and workforce to help the company and its people deliver a sustainable and profitable growth plan. Together, we have already made substantial changes to the market approach and operational management of Technical Metals and Springco.

“We have made key appointments in the areas of Quality, appointing four new members of the team in that area and a new research and development manager who is leading TMG’s digitalisation strategy. The entire team has bought into the changes we are making and are committed to developing the company and the culture we are creating.

“Two sectors we are focused on are Aerospace and Space where we have international clients and a great heritage. We are only just getting started and I am looking forward to developing and implementing our plans. I’m confident that this is just the beginning of an exciting phase of growth for Technical Metals Group.”