Forgemasters' long standing chairman retires

Leading industrialist and former Master Cutler, Tony Pedder OBE, is retiring from his role as chairman of Sheffield Forgemasters International after 12 years service.

Mr Pedder, who holds a raft of positions across South Yorkshire, including Pro-Chancellor and Chair of Council at the University of Sheffield and Chair of the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been in position at Sheffield Forgemasters since a management buyout in 2005.

After helping to bring the company to the forefront of British engineering through a drive to conquer high-technology markets and after ten years of profitability, Mr Pedder along with chief executive Graham Honeyman, has faced a two-year challenge of returning the company back to profitability after the collapse of offshore oil and gas markets pushed the business into the red.

Tony Pedder, said: “I am very proud to have been part of the story that saw the company saved from liquidation by the management buyout. I think it is now time for me to let the next generation of leaders take the business forward.

"The company is now back around break-even well ahead of schedule, and with renewed backing from our bank, this seems a sensible point for me to step down.”

Tony Pedder is renowned throughout the engineering world as a former CEO of Corus plc and still has affiliations with steelmaking and manufacturing as a director of Metalysis Ltd, a director of EEF Ltd and Chairman of Albion Steel Ltd.

Dr Graham Honeyman, chief executive, said: “I would personally like to thank Tony for the support he has given to me in taking this company in the right direction and preserving the jobs and futures of many people.

“Tony has helped to create a legacy which the whole country can be proud of and after two years of restructuring, we have secured healthy backing from our financiers and are in a strong position to take the business forward.

“We will be announcing the appointment of a new chairperson in due course.”

The appointment of three new non executive directors, Jon Bolton, Janice Munday and David Duggins and a new chief finance officer, James Tate, have been made within the past 12 months.

We continue to serve markets including civil nuclear, defence, power generation, materials processing, design and R&D services.

Mr Pedder plans to remain active in business and is particularly focussed in the short term on building on the work he has been doing with Sheffield’s two universities and the Teaching Hospital to promote Sheffield City Region and developing the new South Yorkshire Chaplaincy and Listening Service, which he helped to launch earlier this month, with former Forgemasters colleague, Peter Birtles.