MP puts spotlight on West Midlands steelwork during Angle Ring visit

04/12/2025

Category: General

MP puts spotlight on West Midlands steelwork during Angle Ring visit

Antonia Bance, MP for Tipton and Wednesbury, has praised the strength and potential of the UK’s constructional steelwork sector following a visit to specialist steelwork fabricator, Angle Ring in Tipton.

Supplying a range of precision-engineered steel products used across the construction and infrastructure sectors, Angle Ring plays a key role in the regional supply chain, supporting a range of projects nationwide, recently including the supply of complex curved steel sections for the new Waterside Footbridge over the River Trent in Nottingham, the first new bridge constructed across the river in more than 60 years, which you can read more about here.

The visit, arranged by the British Constructional Steelwork Association (BCSA), forms part of a national programme introducing MPs to member companies across the UK. It provided Ms Bance with the opportunity to see first-hand the vital contribution that firms like Angle Ring make to British industry and the local economy.

During her tour, the MP was shown around Angle Ring’s facilities and met the team to discuss the company’s operations, growth ambitions and the challenges facing energy-intensive manufacturers. A key focus of the discussions was the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) and how many energy-intensive firms operating within the constructional steelwork sector are currently excluded from the scheme, despite the nature of their workloads.

Antonia Bance MP said: “I was so pleased to visit Angle Ring in Tipton and see the quality of what they produce. I am passionate about building a bright future for our steel industry, and more broadly for manufacturing and engineering locally. I have already taken up a number of issues raised with me by Angle Ring and BCSA, including raising the issue of public money being spent on procuring foreign-made constructional steel products when I was questioning ministers at the Business Select Committee.”

Daniel Barnshaw, Managing Director at Angle Ring, said: “We were delighted to welcome Antonia to our Tipton facility and to show her the scale and complexity of the work we do. As an energy-intensive manufacturer, rising energy costs and our current exclusion from schemes such as BICS have a real impact on our ability to compete and invest for the future. It was encouraging to have the opportunity to discuss these challenges directly and to highlight the importance of fair support for companies like ours.”

Zoe Williams, marketing manager at BCSA, added: “Antonia was extremely enthusiastic to learn more about the constructional steelwork sector and the challenges our members face. She engaged fully with the team at Angle Ring and showed a genuine commitment to understanding how she can help businesses grow, while also supporting measures that protect both workers and the wider industry.

“It was great to discuss our New Deal for Constructional Steelwork, which sets out a clear way forward for securing a sustainable future for the sector, and we were pleased to raise these priorities directly with Antonia.”

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