David Ball, aged 46, is vice-chairman of Kingswinford-based Elta Group Ltd – a global player in the industrial fan business. The Ball family made their fortune from the sale of Dudley-based fan-maker Air Movement to aerospace giant Smiths Industries.
Air Movement was founded by David Ball’s father Ray in the early 1970s.
The sale to Smiths in 1996 netted £47 million. The Ball’s retained part of the business – Elta Fans – and re-launched the company as the Elta Group.
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Elta itself was originally formed in 1974, initially making cooling fans for high temperature operations.
The company developed rapidly, designing, engineering and manufacturing heating, cooling and extraction fans for a wide range of industries including marine, construction and agricultural.
Elta now earns much of its revenue overseas and its fans – from 100 millimetres to two metres diameter – can be found in heat exchangers, engine rooms, oil rigs and dry cleaning equipment.
The company is based on the Pensnett Trading Estate in Kingswinford and also has a major facility in Fareham. It has assembly plants in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
The company is worth at least £50 million and in 2011-12 reported sales of nearly £82 million. Elta is a patron of the Chartered Institution of Building Service Engineers.
David Ball is a former pupil of Haybridge High School in Hagley.