James Poeton has become managing director of a Gloucester-based family engineering business.

James is the fifth generation of the family behind Poeton Industries, having originally worked there during the school holidays.

The surface treatment specialists was formed by Arthur Thomas Poeton in 1898.

James follows George, William and Anthony Poeton as successive generations of the family playing an active role in the business.

Having cut his teeth working in Poeton's laboratory while at school, James graduated in chemical engineering from The University of Bath and spent 10 years in senior sales roles within the technology industry, before joining the family firm in 2020 as part of the company's group management training programme. In 2022, James became Poeton Industries' commercial director.

The business, which employs around 120 people in Gloucester and also has facilities in Cardiff and Poland, has evolved to become a leader in surface treatments with the development of solutions which help engineers and manufacturers push conventional materials to their limit.

Its services have been used in everything from high-profile aircraft to space probes.

During the pandemic, Punchline-gloucester.com named Poeton as one of Punchline's Business and Community Champions after working with customers in the production of medical ventilators and donating around 11,000 gloves to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.