Booth Industries opens bigger, greener manufacturing facility

Booth Industries has officially opened a new 600 sq metre manufacturing facility at its Nelson Street site in Bolton, bringing its overall UK capacity to 6,400 sq m.

The opening marks the realisation of a commitment made by parent company Avingtrans when it acquired assets of the business out of administration in June 2019.

The Avingtrans board attended the official opening, with the ribbon being cut by Roger McDowell, chairman of Avingtrans plc board, and joined by Mike Jenkinson, Booth managing director, AVG board members and members of staff from Booth.

A time capsule containing a company history, safety equipment, product brochures and photographs was also buried to mark the occasion.

Mike Jenkinson said: “We’re delighted with the new facility, which provides valuable additional capacity and state-of-the-art facilities to support the delivery of several key public sector contracts and our work for HS2.

“As well as providing additional manufacturing capacity, the new building brings new materials handling equipment, Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) facilities and improved site welfare and also forms a key part of our carbon reduction roadmap, which sets out the steps we are taking to become a carbon negative manufacturer by 2025.”

Designed to meet a CO2 emission rate of 38.2kg/CO2/m2, the new facility uses a variety of thermal, lighting and energy saving advances to improve the energy efficiency of the building and limit CO2 emissions.

Some 95% of the demolition materials removed following the removal of the pre-existing building were recycled, with the remaining five per cent consisting of asbestos-containing materials, which were disposed of safely.

Austen Adams, divisional managing director of Avingtrans’s process olutions and rotating equipment division, said: “It’s fantastic to see the new facility now open.

“When we acquired the assets of Booth back in 2019, we could see the potential of the business but, with no existing order book, investing in developing the site was a real leap of faith.

“The team has worked tirelessly over the last two years to turn the business around, securing new orders worth over £70m from a standing start and re-establishing itself as the clear market leader in its category.”

Steve McQuillan, CEO of Avingtrans, said: “The opening of the new manufacturing facility is a real landmark for the business.

“Investing in niche manufacturing businesses and supporting them to modernise working practices is a key part of our approach at Avingtrans.

“While we knew that Booth was home to a unique array of manufacturing skills and capabilities when we acquired the business, investing in this new facility was a real statement of intent and we look forward to working closely with the management team to help them realise the fruits of that investment over the coming month and years.”