EuroWire November 2016

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November 2016 28
News
Corporate
It has been a busy five years since Robert
Brown, Chris Nettleship and Douglas Hunt
took over the helm of high-performance
lubricant specialist Metalube. This diligent
trio has made huge strides into the wire
and cable market and evolved into new
market sectors, while the infectious
ambition has firmly integrated itself across
the whole company.
Not only has Metalube grown in size, it
has also been awarded two of the UK’s
highest business accolades with a Queen’s
Award for Enterprise in International Trade
2013 and a Queen’s Award for Enterprise
for Innovation 2014. This year it was also
awarded the ISO 14001 certification, the
international standard for environmental
management systems (EMS) and the most
widely used in the world.
Managing director Robert Brown said:
“Metalube was already in a great position
when we bought the business back
in 2011 and we are very lucky to have
its founder, David Lee, still working
with us today. David represents our
interests in South East Asia and is a
non-executive director. He adds enor-
mous value to the company and we
are grateful for his continued input and
support.”
One the of first priorities back in 2011 was
to update Metalube’s corporate identity
with the launch of a streamlined logo, new
barrels and brochures as well as a modern,
well-designed website available in English,
Chinese and Portuguese.
The company’s ‘Global Specialists in
High-Performance Lubricants’ promise was
Growth, development and expansion
▲ ▲ Directors, from left, Doug Hunt, Robert Brown and Chris Nettleship
▼ ▼ The new premises at Metalube in Manchester, UK
also unveiled. This new branding is now
visible across all the company’s literature
as well as at the many trade shows it
attends worldwide.
The company also invested in SAP ERP,
software that is specifically designed
for worldwide organisations. SAP now
encompasses all areas of the business
from accounts, sales and customer
relationship management to material
resource planning and quality control.
Principally an exporter, Metalube
sends over 90 per cent of the lubricant
it manufactures in Manchester, UK,
overseas. Over the past five years, the
company strategy has been to expand
via country investment. The existing
Shanghai, China, office has grown
significantly and there are now new
offices in Dongguan and in Hong Kong.
Amit Gupte set up Metalube India in
2011, which has gone from strength to
strength with India now being one of the
company’s biggest markets. A former
development chemist in the Manchester
laboratory, Mohd Shahrin Abu Bakar
returned to his home in Malaysia in 2013
and has proved a valuable addition to
the South East Asia team working as a
technical sales engineer in the region.
After a long and drawn out process in
2014, an ANP Licence to trade in Brazil was
granted with a subsequent office opening
in São Paulo led by general manager
Ricardo Neves.
This year, Metalube Arabia was also
launched with an office in Dubai headed
by Nick Pomeroy, and a partnership was
made between Metalube and Fusion
Chemicals in the USA.
Douglas Hunt, commercial director, said:
“We are really pleased by how well our
strategy to invest in local people on the
ground in our key markets has been. Our
customers can now be assured that they
are receiving a full service from individuals
who understand our products, speak their
language and understand their business
cultures.”
It is the Metalube team that is the
backbone of the company and in the
past five years the work force has nearly
doubled from 21 to 40 staff.