History
Castle, which was founded in 1951, is still a family business with all the business values that implies, explicitly; Loyalty, Honesty and Application. In practice this means that many Castle employees start as apprentices and spend their whole working life at Castle until retirement, or indeed beyond. This outlook is not purely altruistic but based on the common sense observation that with time comes experience and skill, so that when one of our experienced engineers asks to stay on after retirement, given that there are no health issues, we are delighted to say yes, often asking these people to perform a training role.
The family business culture extends to our relationships with suppliers and customers. We do not believe it is possible to treat one group badly and one group well, you have to be consistent in your outlook, which means you must treat employees, customers and suppliers in an identical manner, which is to say honestly and fairly.
The company believes you cannot stand still. You are either going forwards or backwards. Every day you do nothing, you don't stand still, you age a little and the machinery wears a little, so in order to progress you need to be constantly improving, constantly investing, constantly learning. Only by doing so can you grow the business. We feel it is important to grow the business in order to provide opportunity and for many the prospect of advancement in their careers is an important issue. In a growing business there are new opportunities and challenges for those with the ambition to take them up, without which you lose your brightest and best.
Also central to our beliefs is that companies have a social responsibility and as part of that obligation to the community we provide training to school leavers in the form of the Modern Apprenticeship. About twenty percent of the work force are apprentices but it's important to understand that apprenticeships have been part of the Castle culture from our very inception. The proof of this is the fact that most of the senior staff from the Production Manager to the Project Engineers and Foreman are ex Castle apprentices. These exceptionally skilled and fiercely loyal people are intensely focused on taking the company forward in the twenty first century.
Our success is not accidental, but founded on a strong and vibrant culture which is going from strength to strength.
