We are extremely pleased to introduce our new colleague Paola Itri to you all! 

All Steels has every confidence that she will prove herself to be a very valuable member of our international sales force. Paola comes to All Steels Trading shortly after gaining a Master of Science in strategic marketing management from ISM München International School of Management. There can also be no doubt that Paola will be regularly called upon to utilise her impressive range of European language speaking skills in collaborating effectively with our growing expanse of international based customers.

At All Steels Paola’s general responsibilities will include dealing with a range of domestic and relevant foreign emails and telephone calls, seeking price and availability on new inquiries, progressing existing orders plus controlling and dispatching all documentation legally required for example test certificates, CE required documents, etc for full traceability of all our products from the mill to our customers. 

Alex joins All Steels Trading shortly after achieving a first-class honours degree in Economics from Durham University.

It goes without saying that Alex will be called upon to utilise his strong mathematical and analytical skills on a daily basis in collaborating effectively with other members of the AST head office accounts department.

Alex’s key responsibilities will include processing group company payments for approval, assisting with the preparation of group company month end accounts including accruals and prepayments for review. He will also assist the head office accounts department with the preparation of group company VAT returns and year-end audits. Alex is also simultaneously studying hard to try to attain ACCA postgraduate certified professional membership asap as part of his planned continuing professional development.

As you can appreciate Alex’s group finance department appointment represents another very pleasing and key step in helping to secure the long-term and sustainable future of the All Steels group of UK family owned businesses!

We are delighted to announce that Lee White will assume the role of All Steels’ new Export Sales Director effective as from 1 April 2020.

Going forward Lee will naturally become even more focused on developing export sales primarily for All Steels, but also for our two main sister manufacturing businesses i.e. Special Steel Sections and Bromford Iron.

This is a very well-deserved All Steels promotion for Lee, and we are sure that our export customers in particular will also recognise that he has achieved this new All Steels executive board position as a result of his impressive ability to adeptly maintain and develop existing and new export sales accounts coupled with his unwavering enthusiasm, commitment and strong collaborative skills.

We trust you will all wish Lee all the very best in his new All Steels Export Sales Director role.

Following the continuing successful development of the company, I have decided to make a number of high level changes to effectively create a larger AST Board. The new/expanded AST Board of Directors, effective from the 1st April 2019, will be as follows:

Matthew Rhodes – Finance Director
Matthew is a fully qualified FCCA and whilst he has only been with AST for just over 12 months, he spent circa 10 years working for Salzgitter UK doing a similar job where he exited as their Financial Controller. In addition to his functional role as AST Finance Director Matthew is also overseeing the financial management of Special Steel Sections, The Steel Ball Company and Steelstock Services (Midlands).

Thomas McDougall – Commercial Director
Whilst Thomas is still relatively new to AST he has now worked as a loyal, fully committed employee for group businesses for just over 10 years. In his years of employment with ex sister company Tomrods 6 -7 day working weeks were more often the norm with frequent night time working. He would also go to whatever measure was necessary to ensure that customers were never let down. Whilst the commercial window is generally only open for making telephone calls between the hours of 8:30 to 5.00pm Thomas still works many additional hours and his commitment to the business and its success is unquestionable. I am extremely proud of what Thomas is achieving. With his huge contribution to sales tonnage it is imperative that Thomas now quickly starts to learn the wider interest of the business with respect to purchasing, finance and general business strategy.

Jon Jacobs – Operations Director
Jon has now been with AST for nearly 12 years and has progressed into the job of Office Manager in 2015. Jon has been the anchor man in looking after every form of operations in the business from office management, transport planning, IT infrastructure for the new office, liaison with the docks and secondary steel processors etc. Having started from the grass roots of the business there is not many aspects of the business and its systems that Jon is not familiar with. His work ethic and commitment to the business has always been first class and he is well deserving of this directorship position.

Kim McDougall – Communications Director
Kim has worked alongside me as my PA for 7 years and provides an unbelievable amount of help and support. As the company expands we are having to communicate with a wider range of associates and external businesses on a more regular basis and it is obviously important that all our communications are conveyed in a professional and consistent/articulate way to promote the best possible company image/brand. In addition, as the company develops we also need better awareness of human resource responsibilities, legalities and procedures where Kim is also helping to bridge this gap. Without her day to day support my job would be literally impossible so again this a well-deserved appointment that takes full advantage of Kim’s past senior position work experiences and academic qualifications and helps to firm up our wider family interest/commitment in the business.

Kevin Middis – Board Advisor
Kevin is someone I have known for nearly 20 years and historically helped me with the acquisition of both Special Steel Sections & The Steel Ball Company. Throughout his career in the steel industry he has enjoyed the role of Finance Director and other senior directorships in large corporate PLC businesses. He has also worked as a financial advisor to other steel trading and steel processing businesses. Whilst Kevin sits on the AST Board he is working as a finance /business strategy consultant and currently very much helping out as an interface with our bankers to ensure we retain a fair deal on our financial facilities.

I would like to wish all the above colleagues the best of success in their roles and should anyone have any queries about these appointments my door is always open.

Laurence McDougall

Managing Director

We are delighted to announce the arrival of new AST team member Alex Germaney. 

Alex’s primary role as an AST Business Development Executive will be taking responsibility for an allocated number of live customers and target customers with the objective of achieving budgeted sales tonnages.  No doubt Alex will also provide valuable support required for wider AST marketing initiatives such as exhibiting at international trade fairs.  Alex is certainly high in emotional stamina, enthusiasm, intuitiveness, charisma and empathy, which are virtues that will no doubt serve him very well indeed in his future career path with AST!

It’s also fair to say that Alex’s steel trading expertise is already highly developed, a skill no doubt greatly enhanced by working alongside the notorious steel trading aficionado John Callander (JC Steel Trading) for numerous years!  Alex will continue to be based in Cheshire i.e. working in AST’s additional new sales office located in Macclesfield. 

A big welcome Alex!

All Steels Trading is delighted to welcome Mark Darnell into our company as a Commercial Director.  Mark’s role within AST will be primarily overseeing product development, identifying new market opportunities, determining the optimal pricing to balance profit with AST customer satisfaction, and directing marketing operations.  Mark will also spend time engaged in ably assisting our sister company Steelstock Services (Midlands) to achieve new desired goals and heights, including breaking previous overall monthly sales targets set!

It’s fair to say that Mark has exemplary well proven project management, negotiation, market research, and marketing skills.  He comes to AST and our group of sister companies with many years’ experience in successfully managing large teams, excelling in sales, and participating in a plethora of business development initiatives.

Mark’s commercial position at AST will of course demand high analytic and problem-solving skills, which will naturally make great use out of his notorious practical numbers-oriented mind.  However, the more important aspect of his role at AST is being an extremely well-respected people-person who is highly skilled at impressing customers, routinely and promptly satisfying customers’ needs, and keeping our sales teams working together in the most efficient ways possible.  We have every confidence that Mark will excel in his new role by simply doing what he innately does best, including keeping his finger on the pulse of our industry, while carefully monitoring many aspects of the marketplace that will help the “All Steels Group/Family” to continue to be highly sustainable steel industry businesses.

All Steels Trading is delighted to announce that Adam Grant has recently joined the AST team as a Business Development Manager.

We have every confidence that Adam will be able to introduce new added value business to All Steels Trading.  Adam is a true steel industry professional with an excellent progressive track record for greatly improving business sales performance and who has consequentially been rewarded with continuous promotional career status.   

Adam’s key responsibly at AST will be proactively speaking to/visiting an allocated set of key live AST customers and potential new AST customers to help develop sales in general.  He will naturally also provide support for any wider AST marketing initiatives such as exhibiting at international trade fairs.  By Adam’s own admission he thoroughly enjoys working in the steel industry and he a firm believer that relationships actually matter most of all in business as in life.  As a reliable/honest man with integrity etc it’s no wonder that Adam has historically always made relationships with his customers and suppliers that last over time.  It’s also fair to say that Adam notoriously thrives on successfully completing any challenges set with a highly positive can-do attitude plus a well-organised and dynamic approach, so he’s definitely well-suited to his new business development role with All Steels Trading!

All Steels Trading is delighted to have successfully appointed a new financial controller to help steer our company through a planned growth strategy.

We have appointed Matthew Rhodes to this pivotal position.  Matthew is a fully qualified chartered accountant with 5 years post qualification experience gained whilst working for over 10 years at a fellow international steel trading business. 

Last year, we announced plans to grow sales volumes by expanding our sales workforce after moving into a larger bespoke build sales office in Thirsk.  Matthew says this initiative was one element that particularly attracted him to the role at All Steels Trading.  

Matthew commented:   
  “All Steels Trading is a great success story, a true international steel trading business that is clearly very proud of its well-respected position and role in the global steel market distribution story.  I am joining the business at a very exciting time and I am looking forward to contributing to All Steels Trading’s continued growth strategy.”

We are very pleased to introduce our new colleague Sandra Malecka to you all!

Sandra will be joining the All Steels Trading Team very shortly now and we have every confidence that she will prove herself to be a very valuable member of our international sales force. Sandra comes to All Steels Trading after gaining a few years of relevant work experience including a wealth of knowledge in sales, business management, administration and customer relations.

Sandra is a York St John University alumna and her BA (Hons) degree was attained in International Business Management. There can also be no doubt that Sandra will also be called upon to utilise her native linguistic skills on a regular basis in collaborating effectively with our growing expanse of Polish customers.

At All Steels Trading Sandra’s general responsibilities will include dealing with domestic/international and especially Polish emails and telephone calls, seeking price and availability on new enquiries, progressing existing orders plus controlling and dispatching all documentation legally required e.g. test certificates, CE required documents etc for full traceability of all our products from the mill to our customers.

This additional new appointment marks yet another developmental step for AST, in our quest to be a renowned leading international steel trader of a wide range of both long and flat rolled products.

We are really happy to have Sandra in our team as our additional Bi-lingual Sales Admin Assistant.

We are very pleased to introduce our new colleague Sarah Pritchard to you all!

Sarah joined the All Steels Trading Team a short while ago now and as we anticipated she is already proving herself to be a very enthusiastic, hardworking, organised, outgoing and valuable team player. She comes to All Steels Trading after gaining a few years of relevant work experience including a wealth of knowledge in sales, administration, finance and international customer relations.

Sarah is a Leicester University alumna and her honours degree was attained in Spanish with French. As a student of foreign languages, Sarah spent an Erasmus year studying at both The Universidad de Granada in Spain and Université Bordeaux Montaigne in France. It is a well-known fact that individuals who experience cultural differences personally can come to truly understand where other cultures are coming from! There can also be no doubt that Sarah will be called upon to utilise her linguistic skills on a daily basis in collaborating effectively with our growing expanse of international customers.

At All Steels Trading Sarah’s general responsibilities will include dealing with European and especially Hispanic emails and telephone calls, seeking price and availability on new enquiries, progressing existing orders plus controlling and dispatching all documentation legally required e.g. test certificates, CE required documents etc for full traceability of all our products from the mill to our customers.

This additional new appointment marks yet another developmental step for AST, in our quest to be a leading international in addition to already being a leading domestic and European steel trader of a wide range of both long and flat rolled products.

We are really happy to have Sarah in our team as our Bi-lingual Sales Admin Assistant.

Bienvenido a bordo!

We are delighted to welcome Tori Bowater to AST.

Tori will be joining All Steels Trading at the beginning of August. She is currently employed by another reputable UK Steel Trader as an Export Sales and Marketing Executive. The specialised German language skills and terminology that Tori has acquired and developed over the last few years of her career in the steel industry will stand her in good stead to achieve the objectives of her role as an International Business Development Executive at AST.

Tori’s main responsibilities at AST will include proactively visiting mainland European customers, liaising with forwarding agents, third party hauliers plus docks and mill suppliers on both export and import material movements. She will also be engaged in disseminating all documentation legally required e.g. Test Certificates, CE required documents, etc. for full traceability of all our products from the mill to our customers.

Tori is a Hull University alumna and her honours degree was attained in Law with German Law and Language. As part of her LLB course Tori spent a year studying European Employment Law at the University of Passau in Bavaria. Unsurprisingly, this experience provided Tori with a valuable insight into German culture as well as notably developing her translational skills to a professional standard.

This new appointment marks another progressive step for AST, in its quest to be a leading European in addition to already being a leading domestic steel trader of a wide range of both long and flat rolled products.

We are delighted to welcome Lee White to AST.

Lee joins All Steels Trading shortly after achieving a first class honours degree in Business Management and Languages from York St John University. As a student of a foreign language, Lee spent his second year at Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences, where he studied Business Management through the medium of German. He also lived in Austria for several years prior to completing his academic education, so we feel that it is fair to say that Lee’s command of both spoken and written German is by default pretty exceptional and his proficiency in French isn’t too bad either!

It goes without saying that Lee will be called upon to utilise his linguistic skills on a daily basis in collaborating effectively with our new expanse of European customers. Lee’s general responsibilities will include dealing with European emails and telephone calls, seeking price and availability on new enquiries, progressing existing orders plus controlling and dispatching all documentation legally required e.g. Test Certificates, CE required documents etc. for full traceability of all our products from the mill to our customers.

As you can appreciate Lee’s appointment represents a vital step in All Steels Trading’s ambition to be a leading European as well as a domestic steel trader of a wide range of both long and flat rolled products.

Steel Business Briefing Monday, 23 January 2006

UK Stockholder Tomrods Ltd based in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire has appointed a new executive director.  Managing Director John Thompson tells Steel Business Briefing that Laurence McDougall will be joining the company upon completion of his present contract.

McDougall is currently commercial director with Scunthorpe-based Caparo Trading, a company set-up in mid-2004 by Caparo plc to import those merchant bar products not produced by its UK mill Caparo Merchant Bar.  SBB understands that no successor has yet been appointed.

Thompson says that McDougall brings extensive commercial steel industry experience in both home and overseas markets to Tomrods, and that his appointment represents an important step in the company's continuity planning.  Tomrods distributes 24,000 tonnes/year of long and flat products to both UK and export markets.