Fabrics firm relocates to new HQ in £3m investment, with focus on eco values

Tony Caldeira, Rachel Griffiths (commercial manager), Janine Duffey (ops controller), Shaun Fletcher (ops manager)

Cushion-maker Caldeira has acquired and developed a new headquarters on Knowsley Industrial Park, Merseyside, in a £3m investment project.

The 85,000 sq ft factory on a three-acre site on Lees Road will contain manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, office, and showroom facilities, and has replaced the company’s former rented premises.

The investment project has seen Caldeira already commit to installing more than 1,000 solar panels on its roof which will have the capacity to generate around half a megawatt (500KW) of renewable solar energy.

The company is currently undertaking a feasibility study and is looking into the possibility of doubling its solar generation capacity to one megawatt (1MW).

The premises will also be the location of a new digital hub which will provide ultra-fast broadband to the Knowsley Industrial Park and the surplus space at the site, not yet required by Caldeira, is being developed and will be rented to other companies looking to re-locate to the area.

The significant renovation of the site has involved a full refurbishment of the property, including new roofing, flooring, electrical installations, and re-decoration of the building. In addition, there have been adaptations to the factory, warehouse, offices, and showroom space, to enable the company to increase production to more than one million cushions per year.

The project is expected to create 10 jobs directly, and the building will support significantly more once the remainder of the site is fully occupied.

Managing director, Tony Caldeira, said: “Our new headquarters will provide a permanent home for the company and will give Caldeira the capacity to grow and diversify our business further. The project is not only important for Caldeira, it is also exciting for the local area.

“As well as being ideal for cushion manufacturing, our new headquarters are perfect for renewable solar energy generation, have enabled a new digital hub to be created on site, and will provide much-needed industrial space to let on the Knowsley Industrial Park.”

The company’s acquisition of the building has been supported by HSBC Bank in Liverpool. Matt Murphy, relationship manager at HSBC UK, said: “This move will allow the company to continue delivering high quality products throughout the UK and Europe. We look forward to seeing the business continuing to strengthen its operations and create employment opportunities for the local community.”

Renovation of the building has been assisted by the Liverpool City Region Flexible Growth Fund. Jeff Cummins, investment manager at River Capital, who supported the project as a manager of the Flexible Growth Fund, said: “There was a gap in their funding, which is exactly why the Flexible Growth Fund was created, as it enables transformational growth projects to be completed, where new jobs within the LCR are created as a result – this project certainly achieves that.”

Solar panels installed on the factory roof

The project was also supported by the Liverpool City Region Capital Grant Fund. Mick Gallagher, investment readiness advisor at St Helens Chamber, who manages the fund on behalf of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, said: “Caldeira ticked all the boxes for support, and we are looking forward to them reaching their full potential and creating the new job roles following their move.”

Caldeira was advised legally on the property related matters of the deal by Excello Law in Liverpool.

The project comes at a busy time for the Caldeira team, which recently opened a new US showroom at 230 Fifth Avenue in New York City. The team will also travel to Frankfurt in January to attend the Heimtextil exhibition, where it hopes to increase export sales which already form more than two thirds of total cushion sales.

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