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28th January 2021
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Lakes Bathrooms opens new factory
Shower enclosure specialist, Lakes Bathrooms, has opened a new 100,000 square foot factory in response to growing demand for its products. The manufacturing site is in Ningbo, in the North East of China and it exports all its goods to supply the UK bathroom market and Lakes Bathrooms' growing, worldwide, OEM business.
According to Lakes Bathrooms, the new, much larger factory site is needed to increase manufacturing capacity of the Coastline Collection and to accommodate the new product ranges currently in final design stages. The modern site comprises a three-storey office block, including showroom, plus manufacturing space and a separate five-storey dormitory with canteen to provide a high standard of accommodation for its workforce of over 70.
Commenting on the factory move, managing director, Robin Craddock, explained: "We have been fortunate to grow and continue to expand, despite contraction in the wider market. With business strong for our established Classic Collection and continued growth of our 8mm Coastline Collection, we need greater manufacturing capacity and, with 10 years of production success based in China, we are confident that Ningbo will be the ideal centre for our factory operations.
"We've invested in a site that will not only serve the needs of our existing customers, but also allow us scope to grow our business in markets outside the UK. This is an exciting development and the result of months of very careful planning."
The new factory is in Yinzhou District, home to 15,000 industrial organisations, located in Ningbo, one of China's oldest cities and a prosperous location in Zhejang Province. Its predominant export business is thanks to a natural deepwater port, the second seaport to Shanghai, which lies 220km to the north.
With the factory move complete and operations in Ningbo running fully, the site is now manufacturing over 60 different products in hundreds of configurations and sizes - all exclusive to Lakes Bathrooms and carefully controlled to its well-established quality standards. This year the site will export over 350 container loads of shower enclosures, doors and bath screens, with forecasts to grow this volume year-on-year.
The final word goes to Robin Craddock: "Our new factory is equipped to world-class standards and we invest not only in the site and the materials used, but also in the skill and craftsmanship of the people we employ. Our facility includes a vapour-deposition chamber where all the glass is treated with AllClear stay-clean coating, affording protection to both sides of the glass. This is just one example of our comprehensive approach to building products of the best quality at the best prices. With these high standards, we are optimistic about the future success that our Ningbo factory will power."
22nd March 2013