We won Product Supplier of the Year 2025!

Joseph Ash Medway were proud to win the Product Supplier of the Year category in the Steel Window Association Awards for our galvanizing and powder coating services.

The Steel Window Association (SWA) is a trade organisation which represents the great majority of UK steel window and door manufacturers, ranging in size from the smallest of craft-based companies through to large, multi-site companies.

The Product Supplier of the Year category was new for 2025, and we were nominated by Steel Window Association members based on our ability to provide high-quality goods and services that assist them in delivering award-winning projects.

Dan Lyons (Commercial Manager) and Sacha Aarons (External Sales & Account Manager) were delighted to accept the award on behalf of the company from judge John Ramshaw, Technical Editor of Architecture Today.

The Steel Window’s Association also presented Dan and Sacha with a year’s free membership for Joseph Ash Galvanizing.

Thank you to those who nominated us, and congratulations to the other category winners!

The first week of June marks Sustainability Week across Joseph Ash Galvanizing and Premier Galvanizing, part of the Hill & Smith PLC Group. The week aims to encourage colleagues to focus on all things sustainability, with various activities set across the week to help both the business’ sustainability and promote awareness both internally and externally.

For this year, our Premier Galvanizing Corby site was proud to donate 15 pallets to Monkspath Junior and Infant School in Solihull for the team at Hill & Smith to transform into small dens, houses, and shelving units. With summer fast approaching, it was the perfect time to create the classroom, ready for the new school term.

The classroom also incorporated painted pots, stones, tables and pinecones, alongside other elements to decorate the outdoor classroom and make the space both functional and fun.

Well done to the Hill & Smith team on the fantastic job!

Our May 2025 company newsletter is now live!

This month, we had the opportunity to chat with Jess Price, our Transport Compliance Manager, to find out all about her role in the company and how we’re looking to stay safe and sustainable with our transport.

Our Galvanizing Today article explores what makes hot dip galvanizing the preferential choice for steel used in construction.

We also shine the spotlight on one of our plants, Joseph Ash Chesterfield, the only UK galvanizing site to be Fit4Nuclear accredited.

Read your copy here.

We had the opportunity to chat with Jess Price, our Transport Compliance Manager at Joseph Ash Galvanizing, to find out a bit about her and her role within the company.

Meet Jess Price

Can you give an overview of your time at the company?

I started as a Goods In Administrator in 2017 at our Joseph Ash Telford division in 2017. Thanks to experience gained on the job doing holiday cover, I learnt a lot about the Transport side of the business which led to me being promoted to Transport Officer in 2020.

In 2023, I became Transport Manager and earned my Transport Manager Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC).

Now, I’m Transport Compliance Manager at Joseph Ash Galvanizing Head Office. I’m relatively new into this role, but at the moment we’re focusing on centralising each of the divisions’ transport management compliance to reduce duplicated responsibilities and improve how we operate.

What was your experience before Joseph Ash?

I joined Joseph Ash after leaving Sixth Form a year early. I knew I wanted to start working and earning money, and I successfully landed my initial role as Goods In Administrator.

I didn’t have any knowledge or experience about galvanizing or transport before I started. The team were really welcoming and helped me to learn all aspects of the role quickly, and the experience I gained in the transport department me progress into the role I have today. Joseph Ash has been great in helping me develop my career and has been supportive throughout, like with helping to fund my CPC course.

Can you tell us about the CPC qualification you did?

It was a very broad course, covering everything from driver health and safety, to running your own business. It was a 2 week course, which involved a two-part exam; one part was a multiple choice exam and the other involved a case study. It helped me gain even more knowledge in Transport and it’s a requirement for becoming a qualified Transport Manager.

Can you explain about your role as Transport Compliance Manager?

The Transport Compliance role is a new initiative so will develop over time, but my first priority is to ensure we are safe, compliant, and efficient with our transport across all our divisions.

As part of my move to a central position, we will also be implementing driver efficiency initiatives to avoid unnecessary travel by working out how each fleet can best work to collect and deliver our customers’ projects. In doing this, we aim to reduce our environmental impact and keep our operations as sustainable as possible while ensuring our customers get their work back to them quickly and in perfect condition.

The health and safety side of our transport has greatly improved during my time here. We’ve implemented lots of driver health and safety initiatives, including new security equipment, driver technology, updated cameras in vehicles, and internal breaking system and monitor breaking.

I’m looking forward to continue to grow in my role and help develop the transport side of the business further!

Our latest company newsletter is now live!

We said a fond farewell to Pauline Alcide, Assistant Account at Joseph Ash Galvanizing Head Office, as she retired after over 30 years’ service.

Our Galvanizing Today article covers the benefits of powder coating for aluminium, and why it’s preferential to traditional liquid paint.

Finally, we share our closing dates for the upcoming May bank holidays to help you stay prepared with any upcoming requirements.

Read your copy here.

After over 30 years at Joseph Ash Galvanizing, Pauline Alcide, our Assistant Accountant, is leaving the company today to enjoy her well-deserved retirement.

Pauline started at Joseph Ash back when the company was called “Joseph Ash & Son”, and our Head Office was still in Birmingham.

Pauline has made a huge impact across the company during her time here, and she was surprised with farewell gifts sent from colleagues across all our galvanizing plants.

Describing her time at Joseph Ash, Pauline comments:

“I just want to say a big thank you to everyone for making my 31 years at Joseph Ash Ltd an amazing time well spent. I have seen many people come and go over these years while working here and I just want to thank each and every one of you for the love and support you have given me over the years which made my days much easier.”

Pauline will be missed by all across the Company, and we wish her all the best for the future!

Our March 2025 company newsletter is now live!

This month, our Galvanizing Today article explores how you can protect steel that is too small for hot dip galvanizing from corrosion.

We also spotlight Amy Leachman, our Team Leader at Joseph Ash Walsall, and discuss her role in the Hill & Smith PLC Women’s Network, designed to promote gender equality in an industry that’s traditionally male-dominated.

Finally, we share our guide on safely designing your steel for hot dip galvanizing – crucial for ensuring your work is safe for the galvanizing process.

To read your copy, click here.

We’re excited to share we’re increasing our production capacity at Joseph Ash Bilston.

Our Bilston site is home to the UK’s deepest galvanizing bath at 3.6 metres, able to provide a fully vertical dip for long steel such as cable management trays.

If you’ve got a regular galvanizing requirement, or a requirement for an upcoming project, contact us today to discuss.

Give us a call on 01902 353935 or email gregc@josephash.co.uk with the details of the enquiry and we can see how we can assist.

At Joseph Ash, we proud to be part of the Hill & Smith PLC Women’s Network, designed to empower and support women within the Company by fostering an inclusive environment that promotes professional development, raises awareness, and launches initiatives designed to promote equality in a traditionally male-dominated industry.

Amy Leachman, our Team Leader at Joseph Ash Walsall, is our representative for the Hill & Smith Women’s Network as well as our own Joseph Ash Women’s Network.

We had the opportunity to chat with Amy about her day-to-day role as Team Leader, as well as the role she plays as representative for the Networks.

Meet Amy Leachman

Can you give an overview of your role?

I started at Joseph Ash as a temp for holiday cover in September 2021 and was taken on as a full-time member of staff from January 2022.

My current role is as the Team Leader for the sales and customer service department at Joseph Ash Walsall. I have a passion for customer service and enjoy dealing with issues to problem solve and find positive solutions for the customers moving forward.

A large portion of my time is spent helping the Commercial Manager with the division’s top accounts, building influential relationships that have helped put the division in good stead as being the supplier of choice for our customers.

Over the last 6 months I have also spent much of my time learning and beginning to understand the production and operational side of the business in more depth. I look up to Tracie, our Operations Manager at our Joseph Ash Telford site; I’d personally like to progress to such a role in the future to help boost the female representation in the Operational side.

The Operational side of our business is fascinating to me as there is so much to learn. I firmly believe having a clear understanding of these areas will help provide a cross over between sales/customer service and production/operations that can lead to a very successful all-round experience for the customer.

For me, learning new areas of the business has been eye-opening. I’ve had days where it has not been easy, but also had amazing days that have taught me so much and encouraged me to persist as there is a lot I can learn and offer.

The focus on efficiency and adapting for the future is of particular interest to me, so looking at these areas in more depth has been fascinating. I would like to continue to learn every aspect of the business in order to continue to grow at Joseph Ash, and potentially in the future progress to a management role.

Can you talk a bit about your career history before Joseph Ash?

Prior to Joseph Ash I have always worked in customer service roles within the Manufacturing industry, from window manufacturing to stair manufacturing, but in a part time capacity as I had young children. Joseph Ash is the first time I have worked full-time in over 10 years, but I now wouldn’t have that any other way and feel now my children are getting older it’s my time to strive and work on my own progression.

I’ve always worked in traditionally male-dominated industries, and believe it’s an industry you either love or is not for you, but I always knew it is the industry I wanted to continue my career in.

Why did you want to join Joseph Ash?

I came to Joseph Ash following being on furlough for an extended period of time at my previous company during the COVID pandemic. Originally, it was in a temporary role to provide holiday cover, but after being offered a permanent role, I knew – from getting to know the team, customers and processes over the previous few months – that it was a no-brainer and easy decision to say yes to joining the team here.

What do you enjoy about working at Joseph Ash?

I enjoy everything about working at Joseph Ash! The process itself is fascinating and amazing to learn the ins and outs of, but my favourite part of working at Joseph Ash is the people. The people from across all departments and divisions are fantastic. 

Can you talk about your role in the Joseph Ash/Hill & Smith Women’s Network?

In July 2023 I was put forward to be the Joseph Ash representative in the Hill & Smith Women’s Network. The network is made up of women and men from across all group companies in the UK, America and India. The network has spent the last 18 months meeting once a month and working on four key objectives aimed to inspire more women into a career within manufacturing and infrastructure; provide support and a community to our women; to meet and discuss barriers they face; and to share best practices and provide resources, tools and techniques to help women develop themselves.

As part of the objectives, three workstreams were presented to the Executive Board in April 2024 and have since been worked on and are now starting to be tested and rolled out to Group companies. These workstreams include Inclusive Mentoring, Inclusive Hiring Practices, and PPE designed to fit women. I’ve personally worked on the inclusive mentoring programme, sharing ideas and presenting this workstream to the Executive Board which was a new experience for me.

Being a part of the network has given me an insight into various aspects of the group companies, their functions and how they operate whilst also offering an insight into the challenges faced by other women.

We ourselves at Joseph Ash have now put together our own Women’s Network with a representative from all our divisions and Head Office, where we share information gained from the Hill & Smith Network and in turn share our ideas back with them. Having our own network gives us much better opportunities to assess what initiatives will make a difference to us and the women within our business whilst also allowing us to discuss ideas and potentially implement changes.  

What the company does to Accelerate Action towards women’s equality (the theme of this year’s IWD)?

The company’s ongoing commitment to the Women’s Network helps accelerate action by enabling us to address the barriers and biases women within the company face.  The initiatives developed within the Network have been fundamental in accelerating the group towards gender equality in a traditionally male-dominated environment.  

Are there any other Women’s Network initiatives you’d like to share, or are there any initiatives planned for the future that you can talk about?

I’d like to remind everyone, not only women, of the opportunity to join the two external networks we can access as part of the Women’s Network.

Women In Manufacturing and Women’s Engineering Society both offer extensive online resources including podcasts on various subjects, ranging from dealing with imposter syndrome to how to deal with difficult situations.

Is there anything you’d like to tell us, that we haven’t asked you?

Just that it is a privilege being a part of Joseph Ash and the Women’s Network. I feel passionately about ensuring women see their worth and are treated equally in such a male-dominated industry so it is a pleasure to be a part of.

Our February 2025 company newsletter is now live!

This month, we talk all about shot blasting in our latest Galvanizing Today article, including what it is, why it’s done, and where you can get your steel shot blasted.

We also had the opportunity to chat to two of our colleagues across the Group: Jess Ramanouski, our Internal Sales Executive at Widnes Galvanising, and Paul Martin, our Commercial Manager at Premier Galvanizing Corby.

To read your copy, click here.