Widnes Galvanising now offers the full package
Widnes Galvanising, a leading provider of galvanizing services within the Joseph Ash Group, can now bring shot blasting and powder coating services to their customers. These new offerings bring Widnes Galvanising, which was acquired by the Joseph Ash Group in 2022, up to speed with other plants within the Group. Customers in the North West now have access to a wider range of finishing options, and can expect to save time and money on transportation and service fees.
Shot blasting is a highly effective process for removing rust, paint, and other contaminants from metal surfaces. It is essential for maximising the effectiveness of galvanizing and powder coating. Widnes’ other new offering, powder coating is a popular coating technique that provides a durable finish. It allows metal to be coated in a range of colours and textures while retaining the strength of galvanizing. Widnes Galvanising’s new offerings are perfect for making their customers’ steel fabrications stand out from the crowd.
Widnes Galvanising is committed to delivering the highest quality steel treatment services. With their new shot blasting and powder coating capabilities, the company is well-positioned to maintain its reputation as a leading service provider within the Joseph Ash Group. If you’re near the North West area, Widnes Galvanising is ready to strengthen your steel.
For more information about Widnes Galvanising and its services, please visit the company’s website at www.widnesgalvanising.co.uk or contact Gavin Jones at gavinj@widnesgalvanising.co.uk.
Joseph Ash Bridgend is one of our nine plants spread across the UK and is our only one in Wales. We’re share some details about our services and facilities here, and the hardworking team members who make it possible.
Joseph Ash Bridgend location
Joseph Ash Bridgend is situated on the Bridgend Industrial Estate in Mid Glamorgan and services clients from various areas, including Gwent, Herefordshire, Powys, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Avon, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, and Somerset.
Joseph Ash Bridgend operates a milk run collection and delivery service to West Wales, Bristol, the M4 corridor and Herefordshire on a daily basis.
Galvanizing at Joseph Ash Bridgend
The team at Joseph Ash Bridgend galvanize all types of steel, with their main work specialising in gates, railings, fencing and balconies, mixed fabrications, street and outdoor furniture, and storage and handling. They also are specialised in working with delicate items requiring intricate care and attention such as sculptures.
Additional services
In addition to hot dip galvanizing, Bridgend offers shot blasting through an external subcontractor. Through our network of plants, the plant also provides powder coating, duplex coating, and spin galvanizing.
Bridgend offers a collection and delivery service, full technical support, on-site storage facilities, and passivation post-hot dip galvanizing.
Bath size
The bath dipping size at Joseph Ash Bridgend is 4.5m x 1.35m x 2.1m, and the team can dip up to 4 tonnes at any one time. Double dipping is also possible upon application.
Thanks to our transport fleet and our Midlands-based locations, we can also transport work to and from our other Joseph Ash plants, offering a diverse range of bath sizes. Joseph Ash Bridgend offers a milk run service twice a week to maintain their promise of quick turnaround times.
Fast turnaround times
We understands that customers often have strict deadlines to meet. To assist, Joseph Ash Bridgend has extended opening hours for drop-offs and collections and can offer overnight and 24 hour turnaround times when agreed by prior arrangement.
Quality and compliance
We’re proud to hold numerous accreditations and certifications for our work and the standards we galvanize to.
All our hot dip galvanizing is to BS EN ISO 1461 specifications. These standards help ensure a consistent, reliable coating is achieved from the process, with guidance on minimum specifications for coating thickness. We also hold the NQA ISO 9001:2015 accreditation for Quality Management Systems, ISO 14001:2015 for Environmental Management Systems, and ISO 45001 for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems.
The Bridgend team are happy to supply Certificates of Conformity for each job when required.
Joseph Ash Bridgend team
The plant employs a team of knowledgeable and enthusiastic individuals, including shop floor operations, transport and truck drivers, health and safety experts, and an admin team.
Contact us to learn more about our services and how we can assist you.
The Joseph Ash Group has nine plants across the UK, from Medway in the South to Hull in the North. We’re putting the spotlight on our Bilston to share its history and capabilities.
About Joseph Ash Bilston
Joseph Ash Bilston is located on Springvale Park, where esteemed business Bilston Steelworks was developed in the 1700s, making steel for over 200 years.
Joseph Ash Bilston is home to the productive semi-automatic facility in the UK. It also opened its energy-efficient office block in 2022.
Finally, the team at the plant has been working hard on environmental initiatives for several years, installing equipment such as solar panels, solar storage systems, an air source heat pump, radiant ceiling grid panels, and 60 double-glazed windows using the latest energy efficient glass.
UK’s deepest galvanizing bath
Joseph Ash Bilston is home to the deepest galvanizing bath in the UK, with a total depth of 3.9m and a dipping capacity of 3.6m. These dimensions help make it the ideal place to dip long fabrications such as motorway guardrails, fencing products and industrial flooring.
With its collection and delivery service, the plant services clients from areas including Warwickshire, Worcestershire, West Midlands, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, and Herefordshire. Work can also be transported work to other Joseph Ash plants using our own fleet of trucks.
More than galvanizing
As well as galvanizing, Joseph Ash Bilston can provide shot blasting (through an external shot-blasting subcontractor). Bilston can also offer powder coating, duplex coatings, and spin galvanizing via the other Joseph Ash Galvanizing plants.
We also offer a range of additional services:
- Collection and delivery: We can collect and deliver your steel to and from our site, saving you time.
- Full technical support: Ensures customers receive guidance and assistance at every stage, guaranteeing a smooth galvanizing process.
- Packing and bundling: We can bundle, pack, and label your steel per your requirements and can accommodate if you need items delivered to the end user or prepared for export or containerisation.
Extended opening hours and quick turnaround times
Joseph Ash Bilston has extended opening hours to assist customers wishing to drop work off early and collect it late. Get in touch with us to find out more.
We can also provide a quick turnaround (overnight and within 24 hours) by prior arrangement.
Quality and accreditations
We’re proud to hold numerous accreditations and certifications for our work and the standards we galvanize to.
All our hot dip galvanizing is to BS EN ISO 1461 specifications. These standards help ensure a consistent, reliable coating is achieved from the process, with guidance on minimum specifications for coating thickness. We also hold the NQA ISO 9001:2015 accreditation for Quality Management Systems, ISO 14001:2015 for Environmental Management Systems, and ISO 45001 for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems.
Whatever your requirements, at Joseph Ash Galvanizing are here to help. Contact our Bilston team today for more information.
The Easter Holidays are fast approaching, which means our plants’ opening times will be affected.
All plants will be closed over the Easter bank holiday. If you’re looking for metal treatment services soon, please note these closures and make sure to book your projects for galvanizing in advance.
Every plant will be closed on Friday, 7 April and Monday, 10 April 2023. The plants will reopen on Tuesday, 11 April 2023.
We hope you have a well-deserved break!
We’re pleased to announce the recent installation of a new galvanizing kettle at our Premier Galvanizing Hull plant.
It’s quite a logistical exercise to remove an existing kettle and replace it with a new one. Commissioning and planning the changeover takes months. And the installation – including removing/recycling existing zinc, dismantling the bath, fitting a new bath, and adding new zinc ingots – takes a whole week. The bath also had to be transported from Germany first!
The bath dimensions are the same as before: 7m length x 1.2m wide x 3.2m deep. However, it has a thicker wall than previously (now 60mm instead of 50mm).
For health and safety reasons, it’s typical to change galvanizing baths every 7-10 years as the wall thickness degrades over time, specifically in areas with a temperature difference, such as the ‘wash line’ and above the Dross protection. Structural integrity is crucial for health and safety, so even though we still had a few years left in our previous bath, we always opt for the cautionary approach.
Thanks to W. Pilling in Germany who provide all our kettles, and the following companies who helped with the installation: Projector Lifting Service, Zinco, Westech and Thermetal Metallurgical Furnace Engineers.
In October 2022, Joseph Ash Ltd acquired Widnes Galvanising, which became the ninth plant for the Group. We thought this would be a good opportunity to interview Widnes’ Commercial Manager, Gavin Jones in our latest ‘Meet the team’ article to find out a bit about him and what his plans are for the division.
Meet Gavin Jones:
Role: Commercial Manager
Branch: Widnes
Started: 2015
Favourites:
Food: Anything Asian (Thai, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, Vietnamese etc.)
Film: Step Brothers. I have a very immature sense of humour and this is right down my street!
Pastimes: Football. I’ve always played football and used to play for Saturday and Sunday football teams, but when you get older and have kids you don’t have the time anymore. However, I still play indoor football every Wednesday evening with my mates, which remains a highlight of my week.
Can you give us some history on your career?
“I’ve been a Commercial Manager since June 2020 but have been with Joseph Ash since May 2015. I previously held the position of Safety, Health, Environmental and Quality Manager at the Telford branch.
“Before Joseph Ash, I worked as a salesperson for a medical equipment supplier. I travelled all over the UK but decided to find a position closer to home when my wife was pregnant with our first child.
“I lived in Telford at the time a ‘Management Trainee’ position became available at the Telford branch. After meeting with Stuart Whitehouse, Stuart Cobourne and Tracie Lockley at the interview stage, I could tell it was the kind of company I wanted to work for.”
Can you give us an overview of your day-to-day?
“In my current role as Commercial Manager at Widnes Galvanising it is my responsibility to ensure the division secures sufficient sales revenue to achieve our targets.
“My day-to-day tasks include customer analysis, prospecting, and quoting all enquiries.
“Aside from the sales side of the role, I often refer to myself as a kind of project manager as I am the link between our customers, production and transport. I also spend many days on the road visiting customers for all kinds of reasons, such as advice on their designs and discussing pricing.
“This year I am getting far more involved with the overall running of the business.”
What are your goals for the Widnes plant?
“My goal is to grow the business and increase our weekly tonnages by 20% while maintaining the excellent turnaround times and service. The quality of Joseph Ash’s galvanizing has always been first class, so I’m hopeful that new customers will see the benefit of using Widnes Galvanising going forward.”
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.
“I’m a massive foodie and I’m always trying new recipes when cooking at home. I worked as a chef in a pub kitchen, and an Indian restaurant whilst I was at university. I haven’t ruled out the possibility of opening my own restaurant one day.”
If you’d like to get in touch with Gavin at Widnes Galvanising to discuss your hot dip galvanizing requirements, you can reach him at gavinj@josephash.co.uk.
Welcome to our A-Z of Galvanizing – everything you’ve ever wanted to know about galvanizing if you work with steel.
Pre-treating steel to ensure it is free from surface contaminants is a fundamental part of the hot dip galvanizing process, as zinc will not react to unclean metal. As part of the pre-treatment stage, steel is pickled in acid to remove mill scale and rust, producing a chemically clean surface for galvanizing.
Different bath sizes suit varied steel fabrications. No matter how large your steel, we can help. Across all Joseph Ash Group plants, we have a range of bath sizes to suit the smallest to the largest of jobs. Visit our bath dipping sizes page for more information.
A circular economy encourages materials to be made, remade and recycled. Hot dip galvanizing fits perfectly into a circular economy because it optimises the durability of steel (enabling it to be used again) and facilitates the ease of reuse. It can also be recycled if there’s no immediate need to repurpose it. Read The sustainability of galvanized steel for more detailed information.
When designing steel for construction, also design it for galvanization, as a good design will prevent any processing problems at the galvanizing plant and ensure the best steel coating possible. For design advice, talk to our Technical Team. They’d love to help. You can also download Safe Design for Hot Dip Galvanizing.
At Joseph Ash Galvanizing we are committed to preventing pollution and minimising environmental impacts. For every process of our operations, we take a proactive approach to controlling emissions and ensuring the highest protection for the environment. Follow how we do this in Our Green Future – a fun, interactive graphic showing all our service steps, from collecting steelwork from a customer to its delivery at the end destination and all our environmental processes along the way. See it on our website
Once steel has been hot dip galvanized, a small amount of surface finishing may be required to smooth, clean or condition the metal. This is known as fettling.
The Galvanizers Association provides free authoritative advice on hot dip galvanizing since 1949. Visit their website for a wealth of steel and coatings information.
Health and safety at a galvanizing plant are of the utmost importance. At Joseph Ash Galvanizing, we are committed to ensuring our plants are safe environments to work and visit.
ISO standards dictate ways of doing things, whether making a product or providing a service. They are the distilled wisdom of people with expertise in their subject matter. There are many different standards that Joseph Ash Galvanizing complies with to ensure we provide the best service and product for our customers. Examples are the Coatings Requirements of BS EN ISO 1461:2022, the Quality Management System of ISO 9001, and the Environmental Management System of ISO 14001.
A jig holds steel in place in the correct orientation throughout the galvanizing process to facilitate ease of handling.
Galvanizing baths are also known as galvanizing kettles. They are large rectangular structures made from steel plates welded together. They come in many sizes. (We have a range of sizes across the Joseph Ash Group.) Galvanizing kettles are filled with zinc, which becomes a liquid state when heated to 438-460C. Steel that needs to be galvanized is lowered into a kettle at an angle so that the zinc can coat the steel.
Steel is a tough, durable metal; it can last for decades when appropriately treated. In the UK, galvanized steel (with a typical thickness of 85 microns) can last about 85 years before it needs maintenance. The lifespan does depend on the environment, however. For example, the lifespan might be slightly less in damp coastal areas or places with high levels of Sulphur Dioxide. For more information, view the Galvanizers Association corrosion map. It’s an excellent resource for calculating the levels of corrosion in atmospheric conditions across the UK.
A micron signifies one thousandth of a milimetre. In the steel and galvanizing industry, in order to be standards compliant, >6mm thick steel requires an average coating of 85 microns. This can last for a century in many UL settings.
As stated by the Galvanizer’s Association: “It is astonishing to think that a coating, just thicker than a sheet of A4 paper, can protect a steel structure for the better part of 100 years.”
At Joseph Ash Galvanizing, we mainly galvanize large items such as lampposts and motorway barriers for our clients. What about the small steel parts that hold the bigger pieces together, though? The nuts and bolts? Yes, we galvanize those in a spin bath at our Telford plant. When nuts and bolts are used to hold parts of a bridge in place, it’s just as vital that they are rust resistant too.
Hot dip galvanizing is a chemical process, carried out by highly skilled operatives. At Joseph Ash Galvanizing, many of our valued team have been honing their skills over periods of 20, 30 and 40 years, which means your steel is in safe hands.
Powder coating is a paint mainly applied to metals to provide a harder finish than a normal paint. The paint is applied as a powder electrostatically from a spray gun and is cured in an oven under high heat to form a tough, durable skin. Powder coating paints come in many colours and can be used to create different finishes, such as textured or metallic.
Quenching is the process where steel is rapidly cooled after it has been lifted from the galvanizing bath by immersion in water and/or a dilute chromate or phosphate solution.
Steel is made from iron, which rusts when exposed to water and oxygen. Rust is the result of a chemical reaction called corrosion. To prevent rust from forming, hot dip galvanizing coats steel in zinc. The zinc reacts with oxygen and carbon dioxide to form zinc carbonate. This becomes a protective barrier, stopping water and oxygen from reaching the steel.
Small items such as nails, chains and screws need to be as rust resistant as the steel structures they support. However, they are too small to galvanize in a hot dip galvanizing bath. With spin galvanizing, small items can be placed in a perforated basket and immersed in molten zinc. Once the zinc/alloy layers form, the basket is centrifuged at high speed so that the spinning action removes the excess zinc and creates a clean profile.
Wherever you are, or wherever the end destination for your fabrications is, Joseph Ash can transport them for you using our large fleet of specially equipped lorries, including articulated, rigid, and Hi-ab craned vehicles.
The ability to collect and deliver steel is vital as we like to make life as easy as possible for customers.
Galvanizing baths protect steel against rust, enhancing its lifetime. But galvanizing baths need protection, too, so they can continue to galvanize. Non-destructive testing is used for this purpose. The testing involves ultrasounds which determine the thickness of a bath over time. If the bath becomes too thin, it could crack. Not only would this put the bath out of action for many months, but it would also be perilous for our team if molten zinc leaked onto the floor of the plant.
To achieve the best quality zinc coating, it is important to ensure that the molten zinc can flow freely over all surfaces, externally and internally. So, where there are sealed hollow sections or cavities, vent and drain holes are essential. Please download Venting Tips for Hot Dip Galvanizing.
Our galvanizing plants are self-contained – with steel going in at one end and the final product coming out at the other. This means we can control the amount of waste we produce. At Joseph Ash Galvanizing, we minimise waste by recycling it at almost every stage of our operations. For example, Zinc that oxidises on the surface of our baths is removed as ash and recycled, and waste heat is used to warm pre-treatment tanks. Any wastewater generated can also be treated and reused, with only small volumes of stable solids requiring external disposal. See our ‘Green Plan’ for further examples.
At Joseph Ash, we want to make our customers’ lives easier. We do this by providing a range of additional services which include: Collection and delivery, Additional paperwork if requested, bundling, packing and labelling of all steelwork, passivation post-galvanizing, on-site storage, full technical support, a one stop-shop service.
At Joseph Ash Galvanizing, the essential part of our process is you – our customers. We hear your requests and treat your steel according to your needs. Whether you need hot dip galvanizing at a certain level of microns, or a duplex coating with a particular colour and finish, we will help. We’ve been in business since 1857 because you have trusted and kept us here.
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is found in mineral deposits along with other base metals, such as copper and lead.
The galvanizing process coats steel in zinc, which acts as a protective barrier against water, the leading cause of rust. The zinc in a galvanizing bath is molten at 450°C. Once the steel has reached this temperature, it is ready to be lifted from the bath.
On Monday 19 September 2022 – when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral takes place – all Joseph Ash Group plants will be closed for the day.
We do this as a mark of respect for the Queen’s long and glorious reign and to allow our colleagues time to commemorate her service and dedication to the nation and the Commonwealth.
Our thoughts and sympathies are with the Royal Family at this sad time.
We’re proud to announce that Joseph Ash Galvanizing in Chesterfield has again been granted ‘Fit for Nuclear’ status (F4N), and we’re still the only galvanizer in the UK to be accredited.
Developed by the Nuclear AMRC with the support of its top-tier partners (including new build developers and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority), F4N is a unique service to help UK manufacturing companies bid for work in the nuclear supply chain and measure their operations against the standards required to supply the nuclear industry.
Being granted F4N is a stringent process, and we’re pleased to be re-awarded. It demonstrates not only our excellent procedural input but also the high level of quality we consistently achieve.
As a commitment to our continued participation – and as a supplier to the nuclear industry – we will continue to be monitored by an F4N Industrial Advisor (IA). We’ll also be required to continually upload periodic updates to our action plan / continuous sustainable improvement plan, ensuring that we address any areas identified on the nuclear checklist.
Please click here to see our F4N certificate.
Many thanks to everyone at Joseph Ash Galvanizing who has worked hard to achieve this status. Thank you also to F4N for granting us the certificate. We look forward to our growing relationship with the nuclear industry.
(Photo by Mick De Paola on Unsplash)
It’s not just galvanizing quality that’s important to Joseph Ash. It’s also how efficiently and safely we manage customer collections and deliveries. Because we’re always looking for improvements in this area, we have installed TIP Insight at our Joseph Ash Chesterfield plant.
TIP Insight is a telematics-based digital and connected service which allows us to track the whereabouts of our trailers and report on their health.
Recently, we’ve fitted the device to 41 transport trailers at Chesterfield.
TIP Insight will allow us to:
- Monitor brake performance and tyre pressure. This enables us to comply with the brake monitoring standards set out in the DVSA’s Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness and add an extra level of safety for our drivers.
- Track our trailers, giving us a real-time view of where they are, which in turn helps us improve utilization.
- Geofence our customer sites, alerting us when a trailer reaches its destination.
- Reduce our carbon footprint by utilizing our fleet more efficiently.
We fitted the devices to the trailers in late June, so it’s still early days in monitoring effectiveness. We’re excited about the data, though, and we look forward to using the information produced.
In our quest to reduce our carbon footprint even more we will be installing the TIP system on our whole group fleet in due course.
Find out more about TIP Insights here.