Jobs boost as ‘green’ homes firm reveals £8m investment

A COMPANY specialising in making pre-packaged homes is investing  £8m in a new factory in Lancashire, which could create 400 jobs over the next two years.

Pretek Precision Homes has taken 192,000 sq ft at Walker Park, Blackburn and transformed a former steel storage facility into a 
state-of-the-art manufacturing plant.

The facility will have the capacity to build 3,000-plus new homes a year – all of them low to zero energy rated, fully sustainable and eco-responsible.

Housing associations and private developers will be Pretek’s first customers as they look to provide the UK with its next generation of energy efficient, eco-responsible homes.

Peter Marshall, chief executive of Pretek, said: “The aim of Pretek is to satisfy a large part of the UK’s new homes requirement to a range of clients in all sectors of the house-building industry.

“The code for sustainable new homes has now been fully adopted and will change how new homes are built in the UK for ever. Our advanced technology production facility means we will be very competitive financially, totally sustainable and we can save money at all stages of the production and supply chain.

“The use of sustainable materials put together off-site is the way forward for energy efficient homes in the UK enabling us to save clients’ time, hugely reduce on-site costs and minimise disruption to neighbourhoods.
 
“We aim to be as eco-responsible as we can in what we do. Our homes are designed to last for centuries, will outlive traditional materials if properly maintained and will leave no carbon footprint on the earth if and when the home is removed.”

Blackpool-born Mr Marshall said: “Our new factory at Walker Park is ideal for our needs as a new and developing company using cutting edge technology and we are delighted to be bringing skilled new jobs to the area.

“We believe we have a product that has incredible potential and our vision is to grow the business in a way that creates more job opportunities for the local workforce and help boost the economy.”