Award Recipients

Paralloy is honoured to receive the King’s Award for International Trade, which is a huge achievement after years of hard work. In the last year the company’s results and its investments in growth and new jobs have been recognised by winning several major national industry awards – but this recognition truly is the jewel in the crown.

A rich history
Paralloy has a rich history that dates back to the early 20th century, and has its roots in the Firth Brown and Vickers companies, who were the original inventors of stainless steels in Sheffield back in 1914.

Today, Paralloy is a large specialist stainless steel and nickel alloy inventor and manufacturer based largely in Teesside in the north of England, serving multiple critical markets around the world. Its products can be found in critical applications worldwide, from petrochemicals producing ethylene, blue hydrogen and ammonia to direct reduction for steel manufacturing, or producing energy with turbines powering ships and planes, hospitals, cities and other major installations worldwide.

A vertically integrated company
Paralloy is a vertically integrated company producing fully finished, ready to install assemblies and components, from design all the way to the shipping of the completed parts.

The company melts its raw materials (a large percentage of which is recycled from its machining operations) at more than 1,600 degrees Celsius and casts them into tooling that is spinning at high speed to produce high quality materials at any of its three foundries in Billingham.

These parts are then machined into semi-finished or complete turnkey supplied precision-machined components at one of its four machine shops. Finally, the team fabricate these parts into complex assemblies at one of the company’s fabrication facilities – all of which are then shipped all over the world.

Rapid expansion
Whilst Paralloy has been in business for many years, its growth story really started about five years ago when it started the journey of acquiring the business from a major industrial group. With the support of its investors, the team accelerated the company’s efforts on developing new material solutions – that they continue to patent – that help its customers reduce their carbon footprint and improve their efficiency.

The company invested heavily in people, capacity, new equipment and new routes to market. This strategic and dynamic focus has led to six years of year-on-year growth. At the start of the journey the company had two sites, 220 people and revenues of circa £30m. Today it has expanded across five sites, all in the north east of England, employed hundreds of new people and is proud to have grown its team to over 530 people.

This year its revenues will exceed £100m for the first time in its history, another amazing milestone on its growth journey. This is testament to the people who work in the company, and all this has been achieved against a backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian-Ukraine war, metals, energy and cost of living crisis.

With the recent investments and expansion, the company is now able to deliver much bigger contracts than were ever possible, and is proud to have been chosen to supply the critical furnace components to the world’s biggest and most efficient steam crackers, such as INEOS in Europe, Chevron Philips in the USA, and Qatar Energy in the Middle East. Just these three will save over six milion tonnes of carbon per year and mark another major milestone in the company’s growth journey.

Driving forwards
But the journey does not stop here: its new innovations and materials are in demand and its market segments are growing, driven by macro-economics and the transition to Net Zero. In April 2024, Paralloy acquired another company in Sheffield to complement its capabilities and support its growth ambitions; an important part of its strategic plan.

The company’s 2030 strategy sees the investment and growth story continue and it expects to double again in size in the years ahead. To facilitate this, it has had to take a new approach to the training and development of its people, which is seen as a key focus to sustain growth and create a culture of learning.

‘Our people are our future’
The team are collaborating with a number of local colleges, training providers, local authorities and other employers on a number of key people strategies, such as partnering with Next Gen Makers to create a best in class standard for our apprentices, rolling out leadership and management programs to our people leaders to nurture and cultivate a new culture that aligns to our company values and creates a conducive environment for success.

Most ambitiously, the team is working on plans to open the company’s very own dedicated training centre to upskill its employees, tailor training programs to suit individual learning styles and create future career pathways and opportunities.

Our Community
Employers are in a unique position to influence and contribute to their community. At Paralloy the team are passionate about making a positive change, but understand that they are only one piece of a complex puzzle, and it will take a combined effort to grow the industry. Therefore, they have become affiliate members with NPCAT Futureproof Careers to help provide vital support, insight and guidance to pupils, teachers, carers and parents. They have also made efforts to foster and strengthen relationships within the local community in terms of local charitable sponsorships, scholarship programs, provision of work experience and placements, supporting careers days and help with mock interviews for future employment.