Kirsty Davies-Chinnock: A woman with metal

Kirsty Davies-Chinnock is a busy woman. She’s not only the Managing Director of a busy SME manufacturer, but also a prominent industry ambassador and supporter. So, from where does all her ambition originate? Like so many in the manufacturing industry, it all came about by chance.

 “I was planning to be a lawyer and had provisional acceptance to Cambridge University,” reveals Kirsty. “I came to my parents’ company, Professional Polishing Services Ltd, in 1989 for six weeks while I was waiting for my A-Level results. It’s been a long six weeks.”

For Kirsty, life in the world of metal just clicked. Becoming Managing Director in 2008, she has helped PPS become the UK leader in polishing stainless steel and other metals. As well as shaping the company, the process also shaped Kirsty.

“I’ve definitely seen a change in my personal and professional development,” she explains. “When I came into the business in the late 1980s, management across the industry was all about yelling, finger wagging and sacking people on the spot. My generation is far more people-centric. My door’s always open and if someone comes in, my default response is ‘how can I help?’

It’s an ethos she applies to her many other industry roles. She joined the British Stainless Steel Association in 1995, originally on the marketing committee before becoming only the association’s second-ever female board member. Kirsty is also a Director at ART Business Loans, a not-for-profit lender that helps ‘alleviate poverty through enterprise’ by lending to businesses unable to access finance from high street banks.

In what remains a male-dominated industry, she most recently decided to use her influence by launching an annual conference called Women With Metal, which sees attendance by hundreds of women.

“Women With Metal gives women and their allies from the metal sector a safe space to network. All delegates leave the conference with new tools in their toolbox.”

It’s easy to see why Kirsty was proclaimed by The Manufacturer as a Top 100 Exemplar in 2023. The manufacturing industry is lucky to have her.