600 Group’s makeover now complete

MACHINE tools maker 600 Group has refurbished its factory and offices following the sale and leaseback of its headquarters.
Nigel RogersNigel Rogers
Nigel Rogers

The firm, which is based in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, spent £600,000 on the makeover, which included reorganising the site on which it is based.

The company, which employs 70 staff, sold the freehold of the 200,000 sq ft site for £1.1m to Wharfedale Property Company and now leases about 70,000 sq ft of the space. The property company will market the rest of the site to new occupiers.

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The work, which took six months to complete, included creating dedicated manufacturing cells for all products along with a customer showroom to exhibit all 600 UK products as well as new offices for all 600 UK sales, support and head office staff.

This week the company is showcasing its new headquarters at an open house event.

Chief executive Nigel Rogers said: “We had far more space than we needed. The intention of the changes is to improve customer service by speeding up the manufacturing process.

“In the new facility, everyone is much closer and communication has improved.”

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Under the leadership of Mr Rogers 600 Group has been restructuring and streamlining.

Mr Rogers’ other moves have included selling its South African waste handling machinery business, cutting jobs at its Heckmondwike factory, moving the head office from Leeds to Heckmondwike and quitting Polish manufacturing.

He said: “Over the last 12 months we have carried out a lot of strategic change in order to turn around the fortunes of the business.

“Our results are coming out soon but we have largely hit our targets this year. In the next 12-24 months we will probably see some improvement in market conditions in North America and the UK as the signs of manufacturing demand are increasing. We are aiming to recapture market share and grow the business.”

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