Recruitment boost for Sheffield Forgemasters foundry

Sheffield Forgemasters has appointed two new experienced senior managers to boost the team in one of its world’s largest foundries.

Richard Fryer and Simon Alexander both bring a wealth of knowledge to the Forgemasters team from previous careers in the sector. Richard, 49, joins the company as sales manager, while Simon joins as the foundry general manager.

Richard’s career in engineering began from a young age as an apprentice patternmaker at Hopkinsons Limited.

After completing his apprenticeship Richard eventually turned to sales, working for various steel manufacturers including Alfred Steel Ltd, successfully achieving year on year increases in sales securing business with companies such as the Weir Group and Goodwins.

Working closely with Sales Director, Volker Schaffer, Richard will be dealing with three key areas including nuclear and defence.

Simon, from Sheffield has an MSc in Metals Technology and Management and has a vast amount of foundry experience gained in companies such as Mathers Foundry, Noel Village Steel and Norton Cast Products.

He has worked in senior positions including Technical Director, Managing Director and General Management roles. Simon will work alongside Operations Director Dr Roger Richardson, overseeing the day-to-day running of the foundry, dealing with the production of castings, process refinement, output and maintenance.

The Sheffield Forgemasters foundry is over 100 years old, but leads the way in the steel specialist’s research and development projects to satisfy Sheffield Forgemasters' unparallel work on the world’s most complex castings.