TPi March 2013

business & market news

Pipex chairman awarded MBE Alan Smith, founder and chairman of Pipex px ® , has been awarded an MBE in the 2013 New Year Honours List for “service to the manufacturing industry”. Pipex px is a privately owned, family- run SME manufacturing business, specialising in manufacturing

projects in the Middle East. “Pipe exports” was abbreviated to give the company name Pipex Ltd. At that stage there was no manufacturing facility, so fabrication work had to be sub- contracted. 38 years on, the company (now Pipex px) has manufacturing facilities in Plymouth and Glasgow, five engineering divisions, employs 130 people, runs an apprenticeship scheme, donates 5 per cent of surplus profits to national and local charities, and is multi-award winning in all areas of the business. Mr Smith commented, “I am humbled and very touched to receive this award. I feel this MBE is for Pipex px and all my colleagues who have worked so hard with me to make the company what it is today.”

construction products from thermo- plastics and advanced composites, and spearheading innovation in fast track, corrosion resistant, minimal maintenance solutions. Recent projects include a fibre reinforced polymer footbridge installed at a Grade II listed railway station; glass reinforced epoxy pipe systems and FRP phenolic gratings for the flight deck walkways on the Queen Elizabeth -class aircraft carrier (the largest warship ever built in the UK); and thermoplastic polypropylene passive rainwater harvesting systems that are currently being installed in various UK schools. Having started the business in 1975 with a small bank loan secured against his house, Mr Smith began by exporting thermoplastic pipe systems to pharmaceutical and petrochemical

Pipex founder and chairman Alan Smith

Pipex px – UK sales@pipexpx.com www.pipexpx.com

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