Polyseam moves into new HQ as exports make up 80pc of trade

Huddersfield-based Polyseam will complete its move from Silver Street to a 5,000 sq m factory on St Andrew’s Road in the next few weeks.

However, before it has even completed the move, Polyseam is looking to add a further 2,700 sq m after the firm was granted planning permission for an extension to the new property.

The business, which also produces fire protection products for buildings, is seeing demand grow in the export market.

Andrew Sutulic, manufacturing director at Polyseam, told The Yorkshire Post: “If you take a look at our sales three and a half years ago, 20 per cent of our business was export. It’s now 80 per cent.

“It’s a growth market. We took a look at the business model about four and a half years ago to try and establish where we thought the growth of the business was going to come from.

“It was pretty obvious it was going to be the export markets. We’ve put a lot of effort into that with our fire protection products and also our general sealants and adhesives in the construction market.”

He added that currently the export market was “buoyant” for the manufacturer.

“We are picking up customers worldwide,” Mr Sutulic said. “We export to Australia, New Zealand, India, Thailand, Vietnam.” Mr Sutulic said the export market is being driven by a demand for quality, which he says Polyseam is capable of delivering with its products.

He said: “We ensure that we produce quality products that will perform. They are engineered to do a job. We then support that with test evidence, particularly in the fire stopping sectors.”

The European market also remains strong for Polyseam. So far there has been no negative impact from the vote to leave the European Union.

Mr Sutulic said: “We are taking the view that we carry on as normal. We await the outcome of any negotiations and then we’ll react accordingly based on whatever outcomes are achieved.

“We’ve taken the view that trying to second guess what’s going to happen is not going to benefit us in any shape or form.”

Polyseam was renting its previous site, while the new factory has been bought outright by the company. The move will see the business, which employs 43 people, double the number of staff over the next two to three years.

Mr Sutulic says they are looking for competent machine operators, factory personnel and people for its research and development (R&D) department.

He said: “There will be an ongoing recruitment for R&D. A big part of our business is looking at new products and new markets. We actively promote R&D and we have patents that we’ve got in place and are looking to put in place for products. We want to make sure we’re at the front end of the marketplace. We’re leading not following.”

The new site will provide greater efficiency to Polyseam. Mr Sutulic said: “The current site is very fragmented there are lots of separate units. As a result we have processes spread across the site. We have a lot of inefficiencies because our process flows are fragmented.

“The new factory allows us to introduce process flows that are more efficient – less forklift truck movement, shorter distances and more space to work in. It gives us the opportunity for expansion and growth whereas the current site is limited. It has held us back for the past couple of years that’s why we needed to move.”

The Huddersfield-based firm has seen rapid growth in turnover in recent years. Turnover currently stands at £15m.

Mr Sutulic said: “The hopes and the plans are for continued growth. We’re expecting to see hopefully a doubling in the business over the next five years. The target is to get to £100m.”

The perfect location

Polyseam was founded in 1993 by Andrew Sutulic, Chris Dixon and Nigel Lockwood.

The company was acquired by Protecta Group AS in the early part of this decade.

“They got a percentage of the company in 2010 and then got 100 per cent holding in 2013,” Mr Sutulic said. Following the acquisition, the Norway-based group adopted the Polyseam name across the business.

Initially when they were setting up Polyseam, Mr Sutulic said they were looking at Bradford and Leeds. However, Huddersfield has proved to be a good location for the firm.

“The local workforce is educated in the right skills for our industry,” said Mr Sutulic.

He added: “There’s a lot going for the business. Staying in Huddersfield allowed us to retain the skills that we’ve got.

“We’ve got a workforce that is skilled, understands the business that we operate in, understands all the variables that we come up against.”