Keeping It In The Family

A family business usually denotes one family running the business, yet here at Velden, it has a much wider implication, as we have no less than seven families working within the company. Whilst we are owned and run by the Kitchen family, our Chairman and Founder, Alex is also joined by his son Austin (Managing Director), daughter Amy (Office Admin), daughter-in-law Kara (Office Admin) and nephew Phil, who is kept in line by his partner Amy (Accounts). Nathan Gaskell, our new apprentice, joins his father John, a skilled machinist approaching thirty years service. Kevin Brockley, who has been with us for thirteen years is joined by his two sons, Richard and Kieron, both of whom work in our plating plant. One of our longest serving employees, Dave Parkes (35 years service) is now working alongside his son Robert, age 17 and Mick Whittle, manager of our small batch section is joined by his son Thomas, age 18, who is helping out in our verification and packing department, whilst studying for an English degree, plus his son-in-law Drew who works in our machine shop. In 2012, with the acquisition of Amcron Fabrication, we gained another father and son combination, Mick and Carl Alves who manage our welding and fabrication section.  Nobody can deny we like to keep things in the family!