Luxury door manufacturer Express Bi-folding doors in Leeds to create 25 new jobs with £400,000 expansion

The firm is now investing around £250,000 in a new business called Exterior Spaces to tap into the burgeoning outdoor market, featuring products like a carport with solar panels for electric car charging and weatherproof pergolas with controllable roofs.

A new £150,000 showroom in Bournemouth is also set to open this autumn as part of the investment in expanding the independent brand’s footprint across the UK.

Steve Bromberg, group managing director of Express Bi-folding Doors, said: “We’ve seen a huge trend in customers valuing their outdoor space, something that we’ve directly helped with through our bi-folding door products that essentially bring the outdoors in.

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"These are top-of-the-range outdoor products – high technology solutions designed to be 100 per cent exposed to the outdoor elements 100 per cent of the time.

“As experts in aluminium, all of our products have this at their core. We expect the pergolas to be really popular, but we are also launching a carport that can incorporate solar panels, which we expect to have on display in Leeds by the end of September. It’s all cutting-edge stuff.

“We created Exterior Spaces because we see massive potential in not only the initial products that we’re offering, but the potential for that range to grow.

"We have the expertise, resource and infrastructure to grow the business and see no reason why it cannot grow as big as Express has – thanks to our world-class manufacturing site in Leeds and partnership with one of Europe’s leading experts on pergolas.”

Express has a team of around 300 people nationally, flying the flag for British design and manufacturing. They believe their new Exterior Spaces business could eventually employ around 100 staff once established.

Mr Bromberg added: “I have always said that if a business plateaus it starts to go backwards, so we are now aggressively looking for growth again.

"This has been demonstrated by opening our stunning new showroom in Glasgow in March, Bournemouth in autumn, plus this new company.

"We are focused on achieving a group-wide turnover of around £50m in the next three years which is great news for jobs and the economics we impact.”

The brand has rapidly grown post-pandemic with the last 18 months seeing celebrities lend their backing to Express Bi-Folding Doors from interior designer Linda Barker, to Star Wars and Harry Potter star Warwick Davis.

It is regularly featured on home improvement and luxury design shows.

TV presenter and architect George Clarke helped to launch the firm’s new Glasgow showroom.

Its high-end products including panoramic sliding doors, bi-folding doors, entrance doors, skylights and bespoke glass solutions.

The company is headquartered in Leeds with its campus home to a large base alongside its flagship showroom and manufacturing site, a few minutes from Elland Road stadium.