Decorative moves into new era with £10m factory investment

The firm, which is part of the Decorative Panels Group of companies, was previously spread over two sites in Oakes and Longwood, Huddersfield, but has now come together under one roof at Lowfields Business Park in Elland.

Group managing director, Guy Metcalfe, told the Yorkshire Post: “We are investing very heavily, we always invest heavily in technology. To remain competitive against low labour rate economies you have to invest in technology, and we believe we are very competitive to anybody globally.”

He added that it is “a fallacy” to assume that just because the UK is a developed country, it should be an expensive manufacturer. “We really do believe in British manufacturing,” he said.

Decorative Panels Components specialises in the production of kitchen and bedroom carcase and fascia, with a capacity of more than 600,000 panels per week. Decorative Panels Group, headquartered at Lowfields Business Park, employs more than 400 staff, about 220 of whom are based in Yorkshire.

The site of the new production facility was previously owned by Carrington Wire, but was bought by Decorative Panels Components in January 2011. In 2010, Carrington Wire closed down with the loss of more than 80 jobs. Russian parent company Severstal, which bought the firm in 2006, said the decision was due to a contraction in the market for steel wire.

Steve Gaunt, chairman of Decorative Panels Group, said that it has been “a major job” to refurbish the site, which is equipped with state-of-the-art chipboard processing equipment.

Decorative Panels Components, which has a turnover of around £20m, has among its customer base both manufacturers and retailers, for example, Barnsley-based Symphony Group, a manufacturer of fitted kitchen, bedroom and bathroom furniture, and Home Retail Group, which includes Argos and Homebase. Mr Metcalfe said: “We are exporting product into France, into Germany, into Benelux, and we are looking to expand those markets, but also in the UK. We won’t stay in recession forever. There’s a massive shortfall in housebuilding at the moment.

“When those properties are built, they need product, they need kitchens, they need bedrooms, and we will be very, very well placed to service the economy as it comes out of recession.” The business is also in talks with major retailers in the United States, he said.

Meanwhile, the company is also on the acquisition trail. Mr Metcalfe said: “We would look to vertically integrate either upstream or downstream from our base as panel processors and panel producers, so something allied to the furniture industry. We would very much like to make more acquisitions in this region because it’s easier to manage. If it was out of the region, then we would certainly still consider it.”

Decorative Panels Group also includes Decorative Panels Lamination, which specialises in paper foil lamination and is also based at Lowfields Business Park, and Teesside-based Decorative Panels Furniture, which produces flat pack furniture and was acquired by the group in 2009.

The combined turnover of the three trading companies for the financial year 2011/12 was more than £80m, with pre-tax profits of around £5m.

Mr Metcalfe spoke of the importance of being Yorkshire-based.

“We have a very loyal workforce in the Yorkshire region, the Yorkshire region has a very strong ethic, we are centrally placed on the M62 corridor, which is ideally situated for a manufacturing business, and we like living in Yorkshire.”

He added: “We had two components factories previously and we wanted to bring them under one roof.

“And there is a lack of industrial space in the Huddersfield area so we moved down the hill to Calderdale where we found available space.”

Decorative Panels Components, which sources its chipboards from within the UK, held a grand opening at the site of its new facility on Friday, with an event for customers, potential customers, suppliers and friends.

MP for Calder Valley, Craig Whittaker, carried out the official opening of the new factory.

The group was ranked eighth in the Yorkshire Fastest 50 2012, the most comprehensive list of the region’s fastest-growing businesses, which is backed by the Yorkshire Post.

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