Construction of 18,000 sq ft manufacturing plant underway
Work has commenced on a new 118,000 sq ft manufacturing plant at Bradley Business Park in Huddersfield.
The facility, located on the 11.6-acre business park, is being delivered for Aflex Hose, which manufactures PTFE-lined flexible hoses for the pharmaceutical, food, chemical and automotive industries.
The company currently operates from five separate manufacturing, office and product development facilities across Yorkshire, which it intends to consolidate under one roof.
GMI Construction Group, the building and construction services company, has been awarded the contract to build the state-of-the-art plant.
The development, which will include investment in new extrusion lines and processing equipment, is set to boost production capacity by 70%. Aflex expects that up to 200 jobs will be created over the next 10 years.
Construction of the new factory, which began at the start of February, was recently marked by an official ground-breaking ceremony onsite attended by representatives from Aflex and GMI, together with local dignitaries and key project stakeholders.
Jeremy Hudson, Aflex Hose UK project director, said: “After many months of planning and consultation we are delighted to now be onsite and commence construction of this fantastic new state of the art facility.
“We have given GMI an ambitious build programme and hope to begin consolidating our existing production facilities into the new factory by the spring of 2020.”
Hudson added: “This project constitutes a significant investment for Aflex and their corporate owners Watson-Marlow (A Spirax-Sarco Engineering Company). When fully up and running, the new site will allow us to achieve our ambitions, demonstrating our commitment to customers worldwide, and to our workforce, thus ensuring that as we continue to grow as a company we will continue to manufacture world leading PTFE lined flexible hoses to the highest standard.”
Andy Bruce, GMI Group managing director, added: “We are very pleased to have been awarded this contract by Aflex Hose and be trusted to deliver this important new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant.
“The design teams have worked closely with Aflex Hose to design a facility that accommodates the bespoke nature of their manufacturing requirements now and in future – thus securing additional capacity requirements going forward and the potential addition of new product lines.
“The build programme has been carefully designed to minimise disruption to local residents and we are committed to an open-door relationship with the residents and neighbouring businesses”.
