Founded in 1990, Ryobi Aluminium Casting (UK) Ltd supplies the European automotive industry.
t was the winner of two awards at the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards — Outstanding Business of the Year, one of the two most sought-after gongs of the day, and Large Business of the Year.
It has 550 employees across two sites in Northern Ireland, Carrickfergus and Kilroot, from which RAC (UK) ships over 3.5 million castings a year to 10 customers across Europe.
It specialises in developing technical solutions to manufacture complex aluminium precision cast products. These include components that transmit drive mechanisms in vehicles such as transmission cases, clutch cases, and cylinder blocks.
Over the years, RAC (UK) has become a one stop shop for the automotive industry with clients including Peugeot Citroen Group (PSA), Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), VW Group and Ford.
As he accepted the award, managing director David Watson said: “We really didn’t expect to get two awards and we’re absolutely humbled to receive them but equally very proud. They say it takes a village to raise a child and for us that saying rings true. It takes a community to build a business and we’ve been supported by excellent shareholders, customers, the local educational institutions including Northern Regional College, Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University.
“We’d like to dedicate this award to those organisations as well as the NI Chamber, Mid and East Antrim Council and the Manufacturing Strategy Forum as well as our staff.”