Over the past few years, the business has grown in major export markets and gained national recognition, including a King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade and a place on The Times 100 list of the UK’s fastest-growing private companies in 2024. With this momentum, the appointment of Simon Matthews indicates the next step, strengthening the Group as it continues to expand across key global supply chains – including through its newly launched International Aerospace and Defence Alloys.

Simon Matthews will lead the International Group’s commercial strategy across its operations, focusing on accelerating growth initiatives, strengthening market position, and driving long-term value creation.

With almost 40 years of experience in manufacturing leadership, Matthews brings a distinguished track record of driving operational excellence, commercial performance, and sustainable business growth across complex industrial environments.

Throughout his career, Matthews has held multiple managing director positions and served as group CEO at Gabbro Precision, where he led fully integrated turnkey manufacturing operations. His earlier career included various senior roles at Howco, and most recently, at Energy Alloys Global Solutions, where he further strengthened his expertise in global supply, advanced manufacturing, and market development.

Emma Parkinson, founder and CEO of the International Group, said:

“The International Group has seen impressive success already, with International Energy Products receiving the King’s Award for International Trade in 2025 and the growth of the wider group.

Our focus is to expand the integrated group and add further expertise to the senior management with a highly experienced industry appointment.”

Simon Matthews brings extensive commercial expertise and strategic insight to support the Group’s continued success. His skillset, tailored to establishing scalable processes which enhance efficiency and support long-term growth, will prove vital to the development of the Group.

Simon Matthews said: “I am joining the International Group at such an exciting stage of its development. I look forward to working with Emma and the team to build on the Group’s strong foundations, enhance our commercial capability, and deliver sustainable growth across our markets.”

The International Group serves a client roster which includes the likes of Aker Solutions and OneSubsea and comprises International Energy Products, International Precision Engineering, International NDT Solutions, International Forging and Heat Treatment, International Additive Manufacturing, and newly-launched International Aerospace and Defence Alloys.