CONCEPT Steels is now spearheading a drive to further its growth in the Middle Eastern and Asian markets, following its success in mainland Europe and strong performance in the CIS countries.

The UK-based company is a manufacturing stockholder and supplier of hard-to-source forgings, bar, plate, structural steel and fittings in high specification and exotic steels and alloys.
As one of the four Accura Group of Engineering Companies, Concept delivers raw billets, forgings and an extensive range of part-machined or fully-machined high-tolerance components worldwide. These include clad, overlay and outlay products that are backed by the associated levels of testing to prove product integrity.
Dealing exclusively in the high-end engineering sectors, Concept possesses the necessary quality control and quality management accreditation required in delivering all products with a minimum of EN 10204 3.1B certification – the majority to EN 10204 3.2B, according to Gary Richards, sales director.

“We have a strong export initiative, being familiar with all international material specifications given our 20 years-plus of experience, and have a wealth of metallurgical knowledge, frequently supporting clients in material comparison and selection,” he says.
Concept carefully selects a range of specification to cover industry requirements and shortage for the petrochemical, manufacturing, offshore, rail, refineries, ship repair, power generation and maintenance sectors.
Concept Steels has become known at home and the world as a byword for service, according to Richards. The company’s philosophy has always been to ensure that “no matter what material, what certification level, dimensions or grade, and never mind how urgent the requirement,” it would aim to provide a highly cost-effective service to its customers, he says.
“We have a fair idea of the expense of downtime and if we say tomorrow, we mean tomorrow,” he adds. “Hence, we are considered by our clients as the ‘emergency service’ supplier for breakdowns, shutdowns and closeouts.
“Either stocking or with reserves on a wide range of the more unusual metals and alloys commonly used in high-end engineering applications, Concept has an enviable reputation for quality and urgent delivery – often supplying part-machined high-alloy forgings in a matter of days.”
Concept Steels, which started off by supplying structural steelwork, has since 1989 developed into a niche supplier of highly specialist metals, fittings, fastenings and non-standard flanges and rare pipework and valves to an extensive range of ‘blue chip’ clients in the oil, gas, petrochemical, offshore, subsea, power generation, rail and other engineering sectors.
Most of the world’s leading oil and gas companies feature regularly in Concept’s order book with delivery of components destined for diverse projects ranging from high-temperature, corrosive refinery duties (crackers and hydro-treaters) to deep sub-sea applications and cryogenic LNG applications with ambient temperatures dropping below – 40 deg C.
The company supplies all the major oil and gas operators, on a regular basis, a wide range of products in the following specifications:
• Carbon steels: including chrome-molybdenum steels, low temperature steels, high-yield offshore, high-strength alloys, and high tensile steels;
• Stainless steels: ferritic/martensitic, and austenitic and super-stainless steels; and
• Nickel and other alloys.
“Through continued negotiations with our network of approved manufacturers and suppliers, the team at Concept Steels source, arrange, manufacture, stock and trade a wide range of products in a diverse range of materials,” Richards says.
“We have sold shim steel .002 thick up to plates 16 tonnes in weight and structural steels to large OEMs in the offshore industry,” he adds.
Concept Steels’ modern office and warehouse facilities are centrally located in the West Midlands, UK, which makes it convenient for all means of transport and “no delivery is too difficult or too urgent”, according to Richards.