Young foundry professionals from across the UK came together in October 2025 to attend the Institute of Cast Metals Engineers, ICME’s, third ‘CastInspiration’ event.
15 young people from range of foundries were able to meet up with some of their peers from the industry to enjoy two foundry visits as well as a series of talks from industry specialists.
Day one of the event began at Eurac, located in Poole, Dorset. Eurac Poole have half a century of experience supplying the automotive industry, specialising in the casting and distribution of brake discs, with an annual foundry capacity of 50,000 tonnes.
Attendees were welcomed by General Manager Phil Grounds and Operational Manager Luke Batter. Phil and Luke provided attendees with valuable insights into modern production and process management within a high-performing foundry environment.
They also delivered a presentation on the company’s, its processes and operations, and their commitment to quality. Both Phil and Luke shared the story of their career development, with both beginning their careers as apprentices at Eurac. They have both progressed into senior leadership roles. This is a brilliant example of the type of opportunities available within the foundry industry for career development.
Eurac Poole recognises the importance of initiatives like CastInspiration in sustaining enthusiasm and awareness among the next generation. These young engineers, technicians, and metallurgists will be the driving force behind the next wave of innovation, ensuring that Britain’s foundry heritage continues to evolve and thrive.
The presentations were followed with a tour of the facility, with plenty of time to ask questions and see the various aspects of the foundry operation.
For day two the young people headed over to Andover to visit MRT Castings Ltd, where attendees were welcomed by MD Phil Rawnson, Quality Manager, Georgina Glabus and New Product Introduction Engineer, Daniel Christmas.
MRT Castings Ltd are specialists in aluminium die casting, machining and assembly with extensive product development capabilities and the latest manufacturing technologies. The company is a leading component supplier to a diverse range of global industries including medical, defence, aerospace, electronics and general engineering. The visit to MRT contrasted with Eurac to showed the diversity of the cast metals industry.
The attendees saw a well-organised casting operation that produced a full range of castings from a stylus record arm to complex safety-critical components. Phil also took the time to explain that the journey to produce a new casting can take several months before a suitable solution is established, and that sometimes the customer does not really understand what they require.
Phil and his team provided attendees with valuable insight into their advanced manufacturing facilities and how the business has grown and changed over the years. MRT showed attendees how they offer a complete solution for their customers, from design to a fully assembled component.
Future Proofing the UK Industry
The event was clearly inspirational for those attending and they appreciated the opportunity to meet with industry leaders like Phil Rawnson, Phil Grounds and Luke Batter, to meet and converse with their fellow industry professionals, as well as to have the chance to broaden their understanding and awareness of the casting production through the foundry tours, with many stating how beneficial they found the event.
One young person summed this up by stating that they, “I’ve had a very enjoyable and informative experience speaking with other people in the foundry industry. It has opened my eyes to how many opportunities this industry provides”, with another stating “Very much enjoyed being able to visit different types of foundries and learning how they do things, compared with at my company.”
This event was facilitated by Trevor Ayre FICME on behalf of ICME, who has worked within the industry for almost 50 years and is a past national president and a Trustee of ICME.
Trevor explained the importance of Castinspiration and what continues to motivate ICME to drive this initiative in the UK cast metals industry.
Trevor said: “It is essential that the key people and companies in the UK cast metals industry make a difference by continuing to invest time and energy in developing the next generation of employees in our industry.”
Amy Worrallo, ICME’s Training Manager and one of the organisers of the event, alongside ICME’s Trudi Skidmore, said, “At ICME’s core is professional development of people in the industry. Opportunities such as these events for early career professionals in our industry to meet up and get to know others are very limited, with many being one of few apprentices in their own company”, she continued. “ICME is delighted to be able to arrange events like this. We all need to work together as an industry to support and encourage these young people to develop, whilst also encouraging new people to come into the industry – and no-one will do this for us.”
ICME is grateful to the Foundry Training Trust for help fund the event and most importantly, to the companies and their teams for opening their doors and being so generous with their time.
