Beginnings

In early 1947 George McMurray and his son John H McMurray started a jobbing Iron foundry in Platts Road Audnam. This was known as Amblecote Foundry Ltd.

George (b 1890) served his apprentiship at Babcock & Wilcox in Renfrew from 1909 and continued with the firm for many years becoming a skilful and respected foundryman. He went on to manage the moulding line at one of the foundries at the IISCO Steelworks at Kulti in India. Following his return to the UK, with the help of Birmingham firm Belliss & Morcom, secured the site of the former Platts Foundry for the sum of £6600.00. His Son John had a reserved occupation during WWII; he commissioned power stations and was an air raid warden in Amblecote.

The Directors of the company are noted as present in the minutes of the first meeting on 12^th May 1947 : - Messrs. John H. McMurray, George McMurray and Frederick G Starr (Former foundry manager at Belliss & Morcom Ltd).

George passed away in June 1949, leaving his sons John and David to run the business and continuing in the manufacture of complex castings including cylinder blocks and crank cases. John H McMurray suffered ill health and passed away in 1966 leaving a financially derelict company behind. His son David McMurray, at the age of 26 took on the business as a going concern, he expanded the business to employ some 40 people by 1988. Amblecote Foundry was a progressive company and was one of the first foundries in the UK to reclaim air set Furane sand and operate a boxless moulding line. The company went on to manufacture and market a sand reclamation system designed by David’s brother and Technical Director, John G McMurray and even opening an office in Madrid. In 1983 the company bought back the shares from Belliss & Morcom and continued with moderate success until a bad debt forced its closure in early 1989.

Martin Orr, a local machine shop owner contacted David’s son Stephen together with Roy Bills, Trevor Bills, Peter Shillingford and Mark Woolams and started a new business on the Amblecote Foundry site in March 1989.These founding shareholders were all former Amblecote employees, bringing along valuable knowledge and experience.

Micron Alloy Castings Ltd, the new company, focused on Steel Casting manufacture on a smaller plot within the original site. From small beginnings the foundry grew again and has spent the last 35 years producing over 8000 Tonnes of castings to a variety of industries in the UK and far beyond. Stephen McMurray and Jason Smith took over control of the company in 2010 and by 2018 had increased revenue by 80%. The current MD, Stephen McMurray is the 5^th Generation of McMurray Foundrymen in succession and is proud of his contribution to developing and modernising the foundry which his great grandfather started over 70 years ago.