PAM Building – Business Focus

Pam Building stands out as a remarkable business combining a centuries-old legacy and a modern approach geared towards minimising environmental impact. The company operates two historic foundries — one in France, established in the 1500s, and another in the United Kingdom, founded in 1757.

“We’re very conscious that energy-intensive industries like ours are becoming uncommon in western Europe. But we are committed to preserving a legacy of continuous industrial craftsmanship that spans generations, and to proving that a foundry can be both traditional and cutting-edge,” says Matt Lightbody, Managing Director UK.

He explains that the company’s operations are strategically integrated across its two foundries. The UK site manufactures fittings, while the French foundry produces pipes — a symbiotic relationship that enables each to supply the other and optimise logistics and efficiency.

Pam Building’s products are distributed throughout Europe, with France, Germany, and the UK representing roughly two thirds of total business. Beyond that, the company exports to regions including Southeast Asia, South America, and the Middle East.

“Our products travel well. The type of manufacturing that we do doesn’t need to be local to the country or even the continent,” says Lightbody, pointing out that in the UK alone, Pam Building’s cast iron systems can be found in iconic structures such as The Shard, Battersea Power Station, London Bridge Station, and 30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin), among many others. Further afield recent projects include stadiums in Morocco for the CAN 2026 and the next World Cup 2030. The tallest building in Africa, which has recently been built in Ivory Coast, also now boasts Pam Building’s drainage systems.

An Industry Pioneer

He further notes that Pam Building’s biggest differentiator, both today and for the future, is its commitment to the circular economy. Cast iron may be centuries old as a material, but in Pam Building’s processes it has become a model.

The company’s foundries use recycled steel scrap sourced within a 100km radius of the plants— cast iron products are thus infinitely recyclable, minimising the need for virgin raw materials and reducing their environmental impact.

In the UK, the foundry primarily uses pre-consumer scrap from the automotive industry. In France, post-consumer scrap is used: brake discs, machinery components, and other steel products that have reached the end of their life. “Metals like cast iron retain their value indefinitely. When our pipes and fittings, designed to last 70 years, eventually reach the end of their service life, they will almost certainly be recycled again, closing the loop.”

This environmental consciousness is also reflected internally. Although energy consumption is a major challenge in heavy manufacturing, Pam Building addressed this challenge decades ago. Since the late 1990s, its UK foundry has used an electric furnace instead of a coke-fired one, and the plant has been powered by 100% renewable electricity for the past decade, significantly cutting its carbon footprint.

Currently, the UK site produces around 800 tonnes of CO₂ per year, a strong performance benchmark for such an energy-intensive operation. The company’s next major sustainability milestone will come in France. We plan to invest in decarbonising the Bayard-sur-Marne plant by commissioning a new electric furnace. This initiative is part of Pam Building’s strategy to reduce CO2 emissions by 80% by 2030, compared to 2017 levels. The company has already cut its CO2 emissions by 24% from 2017 to 2023, says Lightbody. “Once complete, the  new electric furnace will significantly reduce the embodied carbon of our products.”

He points out that in the UK, the company seeks to further improve its environmental credentials. To this end, Pam Building has recently introduced end-of-life brake discs into the UK production process. This shift not only lowers material costs but also further reduces embodied carbon.

Lighter, Smarter, Stronger

“Our proposition stays strong, but it will be even stronger soon. Our ambition is to become the most sustainable drainage supplier in the marketplace,” says Lightbody adding that Pam Building’s engineers have spent years re-engineering the products to lower their weight, thus making them more eco-friendly. The result? Pam Building’s ‘s new range of pipes, called Agilium®, are today 30% lighter  with 20%  lower carbon emissions compared to the standard range, yet just as strong and durable. “We’ve developed ways to achieve the same strength with less material. That’s better for our customers and for the planet.”

“We’ve been pushing ourselves to innovate in every area of our business, ideas coming from our workforce and ideas coming from outside as well; where we can reduce our embodied carbon, further align ourselves with the circular economy, but also take out cost.”

He insists that behind each of Pam Building’s successes stands a team of skilled and dedicated people. In the UK alone, the company employs 127 staff, most of them based in Telford in the West Midlands, a region with a limited labour pool. “To attract and retain staff, we have fostered a culture of kindness, fairness, and empowerment. Employees are encouraged to take the initiative, to share ideas, and even to fail, since failure, in the right environment, leads to learning and innovation.”

“We also place increasing emphasis on apprenticeships and upskilling. In the past, roles such as pattern-making were filled only by already-trained specialists. Today, we identify promising operators and train them into these highly skilled positions through structured mentorship. We’re focusing on making sure that we have a more sustainable approach where we can train people from having no skills, in a particular discipline, to being specialists.”

A legacy re-forged

In November, Pam Building reached a significant milestone in its history. After several years of being a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, the business was acquired by the private equity firm Aldebaran and France’s public investment bank Bpifrance. The new owners are set to leverage their expertise to explore new market opportunities, and invest in the decarbonisation of the French plant, reinforcing Pam Building’s status as an international leader.

“The partnership has given Pam Building both the investment and the strategic backing to accelerate its ambitions. The change in ownership has been a positive change for the business and, importantly, for our people,” says Lightbody.

He explains that together,  Pam Building and Aldebaran have developed a strategic plan until 2028, centred on six  pillars: sustainability, faster innovation, growth in key geographies, expansion into new markets, operational excellence and cash generation. ‘The first two pillars are the precursor to the rest. We firmly believe that our passion for sustainability and innovation will further differentiate us from our competitors and keep us relevant in a fast changing world.’

For all its technological advances and modern ambitions, the company remains guided by a simple principle: to honour its centuries-old legacy by creating a greener future. Pam Building is proving that sustainability and heritage can coexist — that a business born in the 1500s can lead the charge toward a cleaner, more responsible industrial future.