Birmingham manufacturer invests £300,000 on growth

A BIRMINGHAM manufacturer has invested £300,000 in expanding capacity at its base of operations.

Warrior Doors is one of the UK’s leading designers and manufacturers of high-security doors and entrance systems.

The Tyesley-based firm, which is a specialist in bespoke security doors, windows and entrance systems for social housing groups, schools, high-value retailers, and companies across the critical national infrastructure sector, has used the money to purchase new equipment, including a high-powered laser cutter, a nitrogen generator and a flat-sheet steel crane.

The new equipment will help to reduce the firm’s reliance on outsourcing.

It has also installed a mezzanine level to its 15,000 sq ft unit in Kings Road Industrial Estate to accommodate the new machines.

Brett Barratt, managing director of the family-run firm, said the investment was made in an effort to reduce the costs associated with outsourcing and to bring all the work in making the doors and frames in-house.
 
“These costs and logistics are hard to handle when production requirements are high and we were also spending about £5,000 a month and rising on bottled nitrogen alone,” he said.
 
“The nitrogen generator now supplies both the flat bed laser cutter and tube laser and has reduced our nitrogen costs to almost nothing. This saving allowed us to invest in the flat bed, which is used to cut sheet stainless steel. The parts are used in manufacture of flat parts in doors, surrounds and frame reinforcement.
 
“Because the demand for our products is increasing, we’ve looked long and hard at the various options and decided to commit to the future success of Warrior Doors by investing in new machinery and improving the factory layout by adding a mezzanine.”
 
The investment is part of the firm’s long term growth strategy.

“Our work is specialised and requires very talented machine operators, which means we are hoping to increase the number of staff on the shop floor to cope with developments. The future is looking very exciting for the company and this significant investment is just the start,” added Mr Barratt.
 
The investment is underpinned by a steady growth in turnover over the last two years with the hope of increased efficiencies for the future.
 
The investment in machinery follows the company’s £300,000 door-testing programme, which has been implemented over the past five years to ensure its products can achieve some of the industry’s most stringent security standards, including ballistic ratings.