AST History

Here at AST we are proud to say that last year we celebrated our 50th year of designing & engineering solutions for our clients! That’s some feat in many turbulent years!

In 1960 Bernard Allwood, Jack Searle & Hugh Timney established Allwood, Searle & Timney Ltd, predominantly to provide a contract design & engineering solution for the nuclear power station manufacturing industry. At the time this was unheard of but as the business built so did the reputation of AST. Other industries soon embraced this new solution.

By 1970, the company employed around 200 Engineers & Designers. It is unlikely that there are any nuclear facilities, UK steel mills or UK Automotive manufacturing plants that don’t still have machines designed by AST.
 

In the 1980s, AST were not only still employing over 200 people but also working in the design and engineering of rolling stock. The support provided by AST’s Designers & Engineers in this sector mean that there are very few rail vehicles on the UK railways that did not, at some point during this period, have design input by one of Allwood, Searle & Timneys Ltd’s Engineers.

In 1994, Allwood, Searle & Timney Ltd reformed to create AST Resourcing Ltd as it is today, complete with its sister company, AST Recruitment. Together, they successfully continue to offer design & engineering services to many diverse industries.

As part of the celebration of 50 years of AST we have recorded an interview with one of the founders of AST, Mr Hugh Timney. In his own words he tells you a brief history of how it all began & progressed to where we are today!  To listen to this press PLAY>