Thirty Years of Corrotherm: An International Success Story
In September 2022, Corrotherm International celebrates 30 years in business. In that time Corrotherm has grown from a single-trader startup to a world-leading supplier of nickel alloy seamless pipes, fittings and flanges.
The story began in September 1992, when the current owners founded Corrotherm Industries. With a background in mechanical engineering and a strong record of founding and running export divisions in the metallurgy sector, Jan Ward , Corrotherm CEO had the technical know-how, industry contacts, skills and experience to set up a company. And that’s what she was determined to do.
After working from home for the first few months, Jan moved the company operations into a rental office in Southampton. It was cheap, cheerful and still being renovated, but it was the company’s first external HQ – and we remain headquartered in the city until this day.
From local to global
An important milestone came in 1996, when Jan signed the Middle East distributor agreement with Special Metals (then called Inco Alloys Ltd). With her extensive experience of doing business in the Middle East, Jan was ideally positioned to break into that lucrative and dynamic market. In four more years, Corrotherm had its own Middle East office in Sharjah.
It was the beginning of an exciting phase of evolution. In 2006, Corrotherm signed its largest order yet: 200 tonnes of pipe for phases 3 and 4 of the Qatargas offshore facilities project. The next year, Corrotherm’s Middle Eastern operation moved to a new facility in the Dubai Airport Free Zone, locating it right in the heart of global trade.
The company continued to grow and develop in the UK, too, moving into its current stocking facility in Calmore, Southampton in 2008. That same year saw offices open in India and South Africa, rapidly followed by the USA (2010), South Korea (2011), Abu Dhabi (2012), Saudi Arabia (2012), Australia (2013) and the Netherlands. During this period, Corrotherm also agreed a franchised stocking facility in Houston, Texas (2013).
Corrotherm’s international presence continues to grow. This year, we signed a representation agreement with voestalpine BÖHLER Bleche for the Middle East market.
The key to Corrotherm’s growth over the last three decades is our strong ethos of relationships: with customers, with suppliers and, above all, with staff. We have an exceptional record of building and maintaining partnerships that have lasted for decades.
As an SME operating in a niche market, Corrotherm is in a particularly strong position to build a global reputation while maintaining a small, friendly team who really enjoy working together. And that’s exactly what we’ve done and continue to do. Like many SME founders, Jan’s intention was to create a company where people would really enjoy showing up to work, and where the employer-employee relationship would be founded on respect and mutual appreciation. Our very low turnover and excellent staff retention rates testify that we’ve been more than successful in making this vision a reality.
Customer retention is also high, with loyalty on both sides. “Our philosophy has always been to stay as local to our customers as possible, which is why we’ve opened a number of international offices over the years,” Jan Ward says. “Thirty years on, we’re still doing business with most of our very first customers – and of course, we continue to build those relationships with new customers, too.”
Jan’s previous experience in the sector means that some of our key supplier relationships go back even longer – some, more than 40 years. Openness and transparency are crucial values when dealing with our suppliers, and this has created both trust and an excellent reputation that has stood Corrotherm in good stead during challenging economic times.
Past, present and future challenges
In one sense, not so much has changed in the nickel alloy market in recent decades. There continues to be a very small number of both manufacturers and suppliers, and a small number of companies that deliver high-quality, reliable products. What has changed is the rise of the internet and the proliferation of companies that effectively act as middlemen, advertising nickel alloy products without actually keeping any stock.
In contrast, the variety of applications for nickel alloys has grown exponentially. As a whole range of relevant sectors continue to evolve – such as aerospace, offshore, oil & gas production, and chemical & waste processing – the demand for the products we supply is vastly increasing, too. One unpleasant side effect of that is that more counterfeit materials are being fed into the market as unscrupulous dealers try to profit from this evolution. However, Corrotherm’s well-earned reputation for excellence has enabled us to weather these challenges and more, steadily continuing to expand our operations and win new clients.
As for the future, CEO Jan Ward sees more growth ahead. “Our biggest focus is expanding our range of stock,” she says. “This coming year, we’re adding Inconel C22 and Alloy 800H to our catalogue. We’ll be the only company in Europe to stock C22 – combined with our Alloy 20 range, this makes our offering truly unique.”
But stock isn’t actually Corrotherm’s most valuable asset, as Jan points out. “Right now, we’re working on plans to expand our market reach. The key here is going to be developing our team and recruiting new members to join us. We’ll be offering exciting opportunities to ambitious young people who want to benefit from the many, many years of combined experience we already have in-house.”
Three decades may seem like a long time. But here at Corrotherm, we’re confident that these first thirty years – with all their challenges, opportunities and growth – are just the beginning of our success story. We’re looking forward to the next phase, and to welcoming new team members, partners and clients to our international network.
