Manufacturing capability boosted

Conservatory Outlet has initiated a new £500,000 investment drive to increase output and capacity.

The fabricator, which employs 174 people at its 60,000ft² factory in Wakefield, is looking to build on a successful lockdown period that saw it achieve over £4 million of sales across its 28-strong retail network of installation companies.

The improvements will be completed in four stages and include a number of infrastructure enhancements and the addition of a new ACT Schirmer Cutting and Routing machine that will improve the precision levels and edge quality of window profiles while increasing production efficiency.

This will be joined in the new year by the construction of a 10,000ft² factory extension.

“Manufacturing is at the heart of what we do and it is vital for us to continue to invest in our factory so we can meet growing customer demand across existing and new product ranges,” Michael Giscombe, managing director at Conservatory Outlet, said.

“Our network of retailers has achieved amazing success in recent months and this led to us exploring new ways to increase capacity while maintaining lead times. The opportunity to purchase the latest technology and make some key changes to our infrastructure will make a huge difference at just the right time.

“With all of the improvements, plus the factory extension, we believe we can increase capacity by 20% next year and, if the pipeline of sales is anything to go by, we’re going to need that production flexibility.”