The specialist manufacturer of quality engineered aluminium components beat off tough competition from across the West Midlands, with the judges particularly impressed with a growth strategy that saw Holden buy its largest customer, Norsk Hydro Aluminium in April.

The judging panel, which featured the RAC’s David Bizley and the DTI’s Matt Faultless, also singled out the company’s ambitious plans to further develop the business on the back of its newly-acquired Tier 1 status with
some of the industry’s biggest names.

Holden Aluminium Worcester, which is based in Shrub Hill Worcester, makes full body structures and crash management systems for iconic companies including Aston Martin, BMW, Jaguar and Lotus and is Europe’s leading independent, bonded automotive structure company.

Holden Aluminium Technologies is based in Bromyard. The company supplies products to the transport, medical and construction industries. Products are used by Aston Martin, Renault, Morgan Cars, BMW, Jaguar,Land Rover, as well as in the channel tunnel rolling stock, escalators, stair lifts, and specialist architectural applications around the world.


2007 has been a year of victories for Holden Aluminium as both companies (HAT) and (HAW) contributed to building the chassis for the Aston Martin car that won this year’s Le Mans 24 hour race. The winning car was on display at the awards ceremony accompanied by one of the winning drivers,
Darren Turner.

Commenting on the growth of the business, Jeremy Holden Chairman of Holden Aluminium and Richard Williams Managing Director said,

“We see the requirements of the weight conscious automotive sector are rapidly expanding and whilst historically the market has been driven by the needs of high performance sports cars, we now have the additional pressures
of CO2 emissions reduction. We see a growth in the number of light weight structured cars in the future and our company will be best placed to meet this demand. Holden companies have been grown from a base of design and
development and, with these global challenges increasing, we are accelerating our technical developments, investing in new equipment and, most importantly, enhancing our skilled workforce.”

Rachel Eade, Programme Manager for Accelerate, was delighted with the event:

“This evening is about celebrating who we are and what we mean to the manufacturing industry in the heart of the UK.”

She added: “Last year we looked to the future and this year we celebrated the past and the history and experiences that make us who we are today. At the Accelerate Awards we celebrated the spirit of our fathers; their solidarity, their true grit, their winning spirit and their ability to work together.

”This ethos is crucial to the success of our industry and these characteristics are still as important today as they ever were.”

The awards were presented by author and TV presenter Christine Hamilton.

www.holdenaluminium.com