Pictured: Aaron Bell MP and John Lee, owner of Broxap.
Street furniture manufacturer Broxap has invested more than £80,000 transforming a former storage area into a new timber workshop at its North Staffordshire headquarters.
The Newcastle-under-Lyme-based company relocated the workshop – which was home to its Hand Made Places division – from a site in Hampshire as part of its ongoing plans to bring all of its operations under one roof.
It specialises in the manufacture of school playground equipment, outdoor classrooms and bespoke playground designs including sculptures and totems, growing and planting and outdoor fitness equipment.
Matt Miles, Broxap’s manufacturing director, said: "We ceased manufacturing at our site in Hampshire in June because we had the footprint to relocate operations up here. "We started the process of moving in July and officially started manufacturing from the workshop in the third week of September.
It took around two-and-a-half months to get everything in place because we had to put a team together, recondition the floor and install an extraction system, but now we are officially up and running.
Matt added: "We want to develop the shop over time to allow us to manufacture more products, but we don’t want to run before we can walk."
Broxap started life as Hillsyde Foundry (Staffordshire) Limited back in 1946.
At that time, the company specialised in cast iron engineering but over the years it has gone on to acquire ‘about 25’ different business from across the UK.
Today the £30 million business boasts a 170-strong workforce which operates from premises on the Rowhurst Industrial Estate, in Chesterton.
It specialises in the manufacture of street furniture including cycle and smoking shelters, planters, bins and benches for a range of customers in sectors including education, military, retail and health as well as the public and private sector.
Newcastle-under-Lyme MP Aaron Bell officially opened Broxap’s timber workshop last week.
He said: "It’s really encouraging to see this and hopefully Broxap will continue to go from strength to strength.
"I had a fascinating tour around the business and I’m really pleased to see that it is doing so well in what are particularly challenging times."
Broxap chairman John Lee – whose father Sydney Lee founded the business in 1946, added: "Since the 1990s we have bought about 25 different companies from all over the country – from Dorset to Newcastle-upon-Tyne; but the problem with outsourcing is that it takes a lot of managing.
"Over the years we have moved our businesses around and brought them here because we’ve got a very good skills base in North Staffordshire."