Hadley Group chairman Stewart Towe won the lifetime achievement award at the recent Nachural Summer Business Awards. The prestigious award recognised the success of Mr. Towe’s manufacturing business as well as his wider involvement in the Black Country economy.

Sandwell-headquartered Hadley Group is a privately-owned company founded in 1964 by Philip Hadley. It is a large producer of cold rolled steel sections and allied products, supplying the construction, industrial, agricultural and automotive sectors globally.

The company now has manufacturing facilities in Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia and more than 600 employees. It operates as a global business providing local service, with over 70 dedicated rolling mills across seven manufacturing centres – including sites in Smethwick, Oldbury and Wolverhampton.

Mr Towe joined Hadley Group in 1976 as group accountant. He was appointed to the main board in 1978, taking responsibility for the commercial and financial development of the group, and completed the buy-out of the business from the Hadley family in April 2006. Under his stewardship the group has grown its annual revenues to nearly £200m.

Mr Towe is also closely involved with the local community and has held roles including high sheriff of the West Midlands, pro-chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton, and chair of the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership (BCLEP). He is a patron of the Prince’s Trust and has been a governor at a number of schools, academies and universities in the region.

The sell-out Nachural Summer Business Awards brought together 520 people from the Black Country and wider West Midlands business community at Wolverhampton Racecourse and the event raised more than £10,000 for the charity Acorns.

The keynote speaker at the event was Walsall-based HomeServe UK’s chief executive Greg Reed, who spoke about the importance of culture and investing in the skills of employees.

Event organiser and Nachural chief executive Ninder Johal spoke about the ongoing political and economic uncertainty in the UK. He believes there will be uncertainty in the short term but if businesses continue to innovate and add value to their products, the future is still bright.

Congratulations to Stewart Towe and Hadley Group for the award and their ongoing successes. If you have a Sandwell success story or good news event that you wish to share with the business community please contact us via our Contact page.