New Managing Director for Birmingham’s Hydraforce Ltd as Macdonald promoted to global role
26 Dec 2016
HydraForce Ltd, the £55 million turnover manufacturer of high performance electrohydraulic controls based at Aston Hall Road, Birmingham’s advanced manufacturing hub, has appointed Tony Brown as its new managing director. Brown takes over from Peter Macdonald who has been appointed to Director of Global Operational Excellence.
Brown’s background is rooted in manufacturing. He started as an apprentice, working up to roles in senior management for several manufacturing firms in the aerospace, automotive, consumer goods and metals industries in France and the United Kingdom.
Peter Macdonald, who joined HydraForce twenty years’ ago, served as managing director of HydraForce Ltd in Birmingham since 2008. He has also been appointed to the Office of the President at HydraForce’s parent company in the United States.
Jim Brizzolara, President and CEO of HydraForce, said: “We welcome Tony Brown, who comes to us with a wealth of manufacturing and senior management experience from related industries. I look forward to working with him, and Peter, in their new roles towards continued success in our global business operations.”
HydraForce, which celebrated 28 years in Birmingham this year and employs around 400 staff, built and moved into a brand new manufacturing facility at Aston Hall Road in 2015, the first manufacturer to commit to Birmingham’s Advanced Manufacturing Hub.
On his new appointment, Tony Brown, said: “HydraForce is a company with strong ethics and an integrity which matches my own. With the substantial investment made by the business in its new facility and employees, HydraForce is absolutely prepared and ready for further growth, and to take advantage of future market confidence. It is an added bonus that while my career has taken me across the UK and in Europe, I was born and brought up in Birmingham so it’s great that, as a Brummie, I’m able to return to my roots.”
HydraForce’s new facility added an additional 75,000 sq ft (7,000 sqm) of manufacturing capacity, enabling the company to boost production of its electrohydraulic cartridge valves and other products for the European market. The three-story building has production and testing areas on the ground floor, engineering and sales offices, and training areas on the first and second floors.
HydraForce is a privately-owned company, operating five manufacturing facilities across the world. HydraForce’s other sites are its corporate headquarters, innovation centre, and precision machining centre in North America and a manifold assembly plant in Asia.
Tony Brown -HydraForce’s new Managing Director
For further information about HydraForce Hydraulics please visit their website www.hydraforce.com