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.
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.
