To all our dear customers…

To all our dear customers,

Another challenging year approaches its end! I have come to the view that you, our fabricator customers, and ourselves are sharing the same boat. We all had a dose of uncertainty from the start of 2021, then struggled with labour, then suffered from wage pressure from the driver sector of the workforce, then started to see material supply issues followed by considerable cost increases in just about every bought-in material and chemical. And then, to cap it all, massive increases in energy costs! Oh yes, going full circle, we come back currently to severe pressure on manufacturing wages.

So, I guess we will all be grateful to get 2021 behind us but, hang on, here we go again with possibly another destructive round of Covid! I fear that many Brits have become a bit complacent about it and have begun to ignore the high daily infection numbers, whilst we feel (perhaps with too much confidence) reasonably secured by our double or triple jabs. So caution has gone out of much of our behaviours in public. Not so, though, at Joseph Ash Group – we have never relaxed our Covid defence rules and we have kept up the mask-wearing, distancing, cleaning and detailed investigation of the movements and contacts at work of anyone testing positive for the few days before doing so. Therefore I believe that any of your drivers visiting our sites will continue to be safe, but will, of course, be asked to carry on respecting our rules.

It is difficult to predict the year ahead. Some further restrictions seem highly likely, with maybe even a short lockdown, with lessons learned from 2020 and an acceptance that the economy must continue to function. I doubt if material supply will get any easier for a while yet, and the ongoing, now routine, self-isolation of employees will keep us all several per cent short in labour. On the plus side, demand appears to be holding up. There seems to be plenty of money to fund investment in steel capital goods and projects, with many still awaiting associated materials to allow completion.

So, I wish us all luck in this manufacturing partnership boat of ours, and pray that the seas will remain reasonably calm. But, most of all, I wish that together, our staff and yours will stay healthy and content, starting with a very Happy Christmas for all, followed by a successful, safe and prosperous New Year.

Take very, very good care,

Steven

Galvanized steel is an integral part of everyday life and is all around us. But how does its prevalence today affect the environment of the future? How sustainable is it? What role does it play in the circular economy? And is the galvanizing process itself environmentally friendly?

Steel is essential for housing, infrastructure, transport, manufacturing, and agriculture. Used as frames for our buildings, safety on our roads, and support for the bridges we cross, we must never waste the resources used to produce it by throwing it away when the original function is no longer valid. Instead, we must repurpose steel, especially if the world wants to move away from traditional business models of use-throw-away-remake to a more environmentally friendly, sustainable circular economy that aims to eliminate waste and repurpose resources.

What is a circular economy and how can galvanizing play a part?

(Image from ‘Galvanized Steel and Sustainable Construction: Solutions for a Circular Economy’ by the EGGA)

A circular economy encourages materials to be made, used, reused, remade, and recycled.

Hot dip galvanizing fits perfectly into a circular economy because it optimises the durability of steel (enabling it to be used again) and facilitates the ease of reuse. It can be recycled if there’s no immediate need to repurpose it. Here’s how:

Optimising durability

When steel is galvanized, it is immersed in a bath of molten zinc, where it alloys with the iron in the steel to form zinc/iron alloy layers. These layers form the basis of the coating, which is covered with free zinc as the steel lifts from the galvanizing bath. The result is a robust, durable, corrosion-protective finish that will last many years.

Without a galvanized coating, steel would corrode, and its lifespan would be short. However, with a galvanized coating, steel can last between 34 and 170 years before the base steel is exposed. This means that steel can be used for the original purpose for which it was fabricated, and – once the project is dismantled – the steel is still good enough to be used elsewhere.

Facilitating ease of reuse

Once a structure – such as a house or fencing – reaches its end of life, the steel can easily be repurposed if it has been hot dip galvanized. The galvanized coating protects the steel from impact and abrasion when disassembled and reassembled.

Recycling

Finally, galvanized steel fits nicely into a circular economy because it can be melted and used repeatedly without losing quality if there is no immediate need for repurposing.

The zinc coating can also be reused. Zinc and steel are recycled in well-established steel recycling processes. The zinc particulates are returned, without loss of properties, to zinc production plants, where they are incorporated into zinc ingots and reused in the galvanizing process.

How else does the galvanizing process enhance sustainability?

A hot dip galvanized finish gives steel a long life and durability. In addition, it creates a maintenance-free finish, which lessens the carbon emissions usually associated with the upkeep of non-galvanized steel.

Mick Jackson from the Joseph Ash Group (Premier Galvanizing’s parent company) says: “Imagine a bridge made from non-galvanized steel. It would need maintenance every year to protect it from rust and corrosion. It would also need repainting at regular intervals. This requires paint, a workforce, transport for the workers and a means to protect the land or water below from paint contamination. This maintenance is not required if the same bridge is made from galvanized steel, therefore carbon emissions are greatly lessened.”

Is the galvanizing process environmentally friendly?

Galvanizing plants are self-contained, with steel going in at one end and the final product coming out at the other.

Modern galvanizing plants also use zinc very efficiently throughout the galvanizing process. For example, excess metal from the dipping process deposits back into the galvanizing bath. Zinc that oxidises on the surface is removed as ash and recycled, and dross from the bottom of the bath is routinely removed and has a high recycling value.

Other process consumables, such as hydrochloric acid and flux solutions, have important recycling or regeneration routes. Spent hydrochloric acid solutions are used to produce iron chloride for treating municipal wastewater, for example. Closed-loop flux recycling is also used in many plants, and improved monitoring and maintenance of flux tanks reduce the volume of solids for disposal. Compared to other coating technologies galvanizing uses low volumes of water, with plants rarely discharging wastewater. Any wastewater generated can be treated and reused, with only small volumes of stable solids requiring external disposal.

While not considered a particularly energy-intensive sector, the galvanizing industry also has set targets for energy efficiency and improved energy management. New technology has seen improvements in burner efficiency, bath lid efficiency, and reuse of waste heat to warm pre-treatment tanks. Plant emissions are also carefully controlled to ensure neighbouring communities are not adversely affected.

A strong commitment to the circular economy

Steven Hopkins, Managing Director at the Joseph Ash Group, said: “We count ourselves fortunate to be involved with such a sustainable product, playing, as it does, a critical role in extending the life of steel structures by decades. In addition, reducing our environmental impact has been close to our hearts for many years, hence our heavy investment in fume capture and recycling by-products.”
We firmly believe in a circular economy, where the needs of present-day society are met, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”

Please get in touch to find out more about galvanized steel or the sustainability processes at Premier Galvanizing.

You can view the new EGGA guide – ‘Galvanized Steel and Sustainable Construction: Solutions for a Circular Economy’ here.

End of year message from Steven Hopkins, Managing Director, Joseph Ash Group.

Dear Customers,

It’s the end of the year… Where did 2020 go to? It seems to have been non-stop, with a huge amount more to think about and manage than normal.

As you might know, in the Joseph Ash Group we made the decision early in the Pandemic not to allow the situation to impact our customers, but nor could we allow our employees to be put at risk. So we worked hard as one big team across all eight plants to quickly develop our protection systems and order extra sanitising gels and PPE as quickly as possible. The Furlough Scheme allowed us to reduce concentrations of staff (although we’re pleased to say we are able to repay it in line with the decision of our parent group, Hill & Smith Holdings PLC). Alterations to shift start and finish times helped as well.

What pleased us the most, however, were the messages of support from several customers who also stayed open and who said they would have been in difficulty without their “last production process partner”. We were also delighted to have the opportunity to showcase our abilities to many new customers who knocked on our door for the first time during the Spring lock-down, and have elected to keep us as their production partners ever since.

It also pleased us to be able to help the national pandemic effort by processing steel for much-needed facilities such as the NHS Nightingale Hospitals, an extension to an oxygen tank facility at St. Thomas’s Hospital in London, and equipment such as clinical waste bins and trucks, and crash trolleys.

I guess it should be no surprise to anyone if I say that April and May were tough months. However, we seemed to regain some equilibrium by the last week of May and volumes thereafter increased each week by several percentage points, until today we find ourselves extremely busy. This is in no small part due to our excellent Sales teams who were not furloughed and spent their time working very hard and effectively from their kitchen tables – with no office conversations about football or TV to distract them!

We have had two significant challenges to deal with in 2020 – I guess no different to many of you:

As we “employ” around 70 agency workers in our group, mostly on a temp-to-perm basis, they were inevitably furloughed by their agency employers and many became lost to us;
Whilst the incidence of Covid diagnoses in the Joseph Ash Group has been well below the national average (I have probably driven our people mad with constant nagging about hand-washing!), we have still temporarily lost the services of dozens, isolating due to family members testing positive. I have also been surprised how many partners of our employees are facing danger every day in the NHS and Care sectors – God Bless them all.

So, maintaining capacity has been a challenge at times, but we have been saved by the reasonable distances between our plants and a very cooperative desire by them to help their sisters. Now, we are well on the way to rebuilding our teams, with the last tranche (or recruits) set to join us in the New Year.

In all, whilst 2020 has been grim in many respects, it has given the people of the Joseph Ash Group the chance to really show their mettle and I am inordinately proud of every one of them. I believe that, whilst our profits might be down, in more ways than one this has been the finest year of our 150-year history.

But none of the above would have been possible without you, our excellent customers. You too have faced adversity, come through it and supported us in our endeavours to keep going and maintain our standards of service. What a great partnership! I thank you most sincerely for your efforts and our relationship.

On behalf of everybody at Joseph Ash, I wish you and your loved ones a happy, peaceful and healthy Christmas, and a far better New Year!

Kindest regards,

Steven Hopkins
Managing Director, Joseph Ash Group

Health and safety has always been of paramount importance to our company. This is especially the case during these COVID times.

Since the Coronavirus pandemic began to affect the UK, our plants have remained opened, but we have been working safely.

To help customers and suppliers feel secure whilst working with us (either when meeting with our delivery drivers, or when visiting our plants), we have put extra measures in place in each plant. These measure comply with the Government’s guidance on managing the risk of COVID-19. For example:

We have cleaning, handwashing and hygiene procedures in line with guidance.
We have taken all reasonable steps to help people work from home.
We have taken all reasonable steps to maintain a 2m distance in the workplace.
Where people cannot be 2m apart, we have done everything practical to manage the risk of transmission.

Each Premier Galvanizing and Joseph Ash Galvanizing plant has recently been assessed against the guidelines. Each plant has been issued with a certificate to show compliance.

For further information about how we’re managing risk during this epidemic, please also read our Epidemic Health and Safety Policy.

Epidemic health and safety policy – keeping employees and customers safe at Premier Galvanizing.

Since the Coronavirus pandemic began to affect us in the UK, Premier Galvanizing and Joseph Ash Galvanizing plants have remained opened. This is because it’s critical to maintain operations for essential service companies who rely on us as part of their supply chain.

As we are open, we have written and implemented a new epidemic health and safety policy with the goal of keeping our employees – and any customers and suppliers who visit our site – safe and well. You can read the new policy here.

Health and safety has always been of paramount importance to Premier Galvanizing and Joseph Ash Galvanizing, and it’s something we’ve been recognised for year-on-year with many RoSPA awards. Therefore the epidemic policy is very important to us. If you are a customer or a supplier who needs to visit one of our plants, or meet with one of our operatives or delivery drivers, we hope you find this new policy useful and comforting as it demonstrates we are doing everything we can to keep our plants safe.

Please get in touch with our Health and Safety Manager – Chris Gibson – should you have any questions or concerns.

20 years anniversary of galvanisation graphic

This month, we’ve been extremely proud to have reached two decades in business at Premier Galvanizing!

Whilst we’ve not been able to physically celebrate due to the coronavirus restrictions, we’d like to thank you all – our customers – for booking our services over the years. We’ve grown alongside you and we look forward to being ‘Part of your team’ for many years to come.

To our team members, to be in business for 20 years requires great people, and we are lucky to have such an amazing team of people here and alongside us at Joseph Ash.

Thank you for a special 20 years and here’s to celebrating the next wonderful chapter together!

As health and safety is of paramount importance at Premier Galvanizing and Joseph Ash Galvanizing, we want our plants to be safe for all drivers who drop-off and collect loads. With this in mind, we recently produced a ‘Safe deliveries’ posters for our customers.

The poster reminds all drivers who enter/leave our plants to ensure their goods and materials are loaded safely and correctly on their trucks. It has lots of useful tips and advice on how to load and unload correctly.

The posters are being printed and we aim to post hard copies to customers before Christmas. If you’d like to download an electronic copy so that you can read the safety advice today click here, or call your usual contact number to request a poster.

We are pleased to report that the shares in our business have been acquired by Joseph Ash Ltd, which is looking to expand into areas of England where it was not previously present.

Joseph Ash is a company with a fine reputation in hot dip galvanizing and one which we believe is the best possible guardian of our service values here at Premier Galvanizing.

The company will be operated independently from Joseph Ash and customers will continue to benefit from the same high levels of service which we have always provided, with an enhanced ability to service long structural steels or bulky items by arrangement with Joseph Ash.

wet storage stains on steelwork crossed over

Remember the do’s and don’ts when storing galvanized steelwork in wet or humid conditions.

With the adverse weather upon us, it’s worth remembering the do’s and don’ts of how to store galvanized steelwork in wet or humid conditions.

Whilst the primary function of hot dip galvanizing is to protect the underlying steel from corrosion, aesthetics are still important to Premier Galvanizing, and to our clients. With this in mind, we’re sharing a document produced by the Galvanizers Association which gives some very helpful tips and advice on avoiding wet storage staining. The document includes the following:

How wet storage stains form
The effects of wet storage stains
Avoiding wet storage stains during storage and transport
Wet storage stain removal.

You can read the document here.

If you have any questions on this topic, please contact the Premier Galvanizing Technical Department. We’re always happy to help.

Premier Galvanising trucks all lined up.

Due to the ongoing increase in demand for the reliable ‘on time’ service provided by Premier Galvanizing we are pleased to announce that we have expanded our production operation at our Corby site.

As of the 1 February 2015 our production department began operating on a 24 hour basis in order to continue providing our customers with the reliable service that they have become accustomed to.

Our aim is to ensure that the varied needs and requirements of our valued customers are maintained at all times, so therefore, to compliment our service, we have also invested in additional transport and recruitment.

We have increased our transport fleet and been successful in recruiting and training additional production personnel.

Our goal is to get it right first time, on time, every time! The development at our Corby site is instrumental to us delivering a great service that meets the demands of our customer base.