Expansion plans

Mark Mitchell
Mark Mitchell

Glass Company of the Year Cornwall Group is positioning itself for major expansion in 2022 as it conducts acquisition talks and begins work on a new glass processing facility in Somerset.

Cornwall Group’s chairman, Mark Mitchell, said the company’s strategy of putting resources in place first, before needing to fully engage them, has allowed it to be agile when new opportunities arise.

“We’ve already made it clear that we are very open to the idea of buying existing businesses that allow us to expand our product range or our geographical each,” he said. “But we can only do that if we are in a position to do so. We are constantly on a war footing, if you like.”

This state of readiness, he argued, is one reason why the company has fared better than most since March 2020.

“It’s gone better than we could have hoped for,” Mark said. “To say that nearly two years have been pandemic related, and we have plans to expand and acquire, then that is really something.”

Mark revealed that several approaches have been made to him during December and January.

“These aren’t necessarily distress sales,” he said, “but I think a lot of organisations have reflected on what they need, and it is part of a general trend towards consolidation as the latest trends in glass definitely point towards a greater need for specialist machinery.

“But some companies have struggled because they aren’t nimble. They are running out of puff.”

Cornwall Group also has some significant infrastructure plans in the pipeline.

The construction of a new £6m state-of-the-art facility at Highbridge in Somerset will begin later this year which will see approximately £3.5m spent on a new furnace, a new unit line, new heat soak ovens, and a specialist lamination line, which will dominate 6,000ft2 on its own. It will also create 30 jobs.

“Toughened laminate used to be an aspirational purchase, but many projects are now specifying toughened laminates either because of regulations or because designers are pushing the limits that glass is capable of, such as walk-on roofs,” he said.

Highbridge was singled out because of its proximity to the M5 and M4, offering significant opportunities to expand the group’s reach out east.