Thomas Dudley recently welcomed Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) managing director, John Newcomb, to its foundry and plastics plant in the West Midlands.
The fourth generation family owned business has been manufacturing in the Black Country since 1920 and supplies a range of bathroom products as well as undertaking custom metal casting in its state-of-the-art foundry, which has been the subject of a £9m investment programme over the last three years.
The company is a longstanding member of the BMF and sales and marketing director, Simon Fleet chairs the BMF Young Merchants Group.
Mr Fleet said: “I’ve been involved with the BMF Young Merchants Group for about four years, the last 12 months as chairman, and it’s a great way to network with the younger generation coming up through merchants and manufacturers. Thomas Dudley has worked in partnership with plumbers’ and builders’ merchants for over 40 years and they are as much our heartland as the Black Country itself. So you can see why it is important for us to play an active part in the BMF, even more so now with the changes that John is implementing to make the organisation more inclusive and representative of the whole industry.
“We are very proud of our heritage but have an extremely modern manufacturing facility here, and I’m delighted that John took the time to come along and see that.”
Mr Newcomb added: “Thomas Dudley is a great example of a thriving, British manufacturing business that has remained true to its roots in the West Midlands. A lot of plastics manufacturing has moved to China, but they design, make and assemble an array of small components into market leading products. I’ve been fascinated to see the process for myself, and I am also proud that the BMF can boast so many supplier members who, despite the trend for outsourcing, continue to manufacture in the UK.”
