A new £5 million investment programme will double the South Yorkshire production site of the Style Group Plc, one of the country’s largest manufacturers and retailers of PVC-U windows and doors, giving the Group full control of all aspects of production including, for the first time, new glass and glass toughening plants.

The new investment, funded by Barclays Corporate, will see the premises in Wombwell, near Barnsley, double in size to 120,000 square feet and be fully operational by the end of 2004. It will give the Group exclusive use of the site and promises to produce 30 new jobs within two of the Group’s subsidiary companies, which are already the largest employers in the area.

One of these, Windowstyle UK, will now occupy half of the extended site and another subsidiary, Tradestyle UK, together with the new glass and glass toughening plant will take the remainder. Of the £5m new investment half will go on the purchase of the property and the remainder on the development of the glass and glass toughening plants which will include a new electrical sub station.

John Ross, Style Group’s Chief Executive, explained: ‘This huge investment will give us full control of all aspects of our business.

‘Only a few companies in the United Kingdom can do that and by the end of this year it will undoubtedly reflect through improvements in our service and margins.

‘Following our record breaking year in 2003 when we more than doubled our trading profits to £5.7m and retail sales topped the £100m mark for the first time, I declared we would invest heavily in the Wombwell site in 2004 to maintain our position as an industry leader.

‘By the year 2005 this exclusive and larger site will be providing our retail subsidiary, Safestyle UK, with high quality and cost effective products and service which has made it one of the best known brands in the market,’ he added.

Source

Glass Age