Countryside Partnerships closes new timber frame factory

8 August 2022


Despite a stated policy of investing in MMC for its new housing, nationwide housebuilder Countryside Partnerships is shutting its most recently opened timber frame house factory in Leicestershire.

The company made the announcement during its recent trading update when it posted a 20% growth in adjusted revenue to £219m for the Q3 period covering April 1 to June 30, 2022.

Following a review of the Group’s manufacturing facilities, the Board has taken the decision to exit its site in Bardon, one of three MMC factories owned by the Group. 

The £20m Bardon site, a 384,000m2 facility producing closed panel timber frames, was only completed recently and is believed to have an annual capacity of over 3,000 units per year, double the capacity of the existing plants.

Countryside said it expected the closure decision to reduce the run-rate of manufacturing losses as a result. 

The company will continue to operate two existing smaller timber frame factories at Narborough, Leicester and at Warrington.

Back in October, the company announced it had produced its 5,000th closed panel system for a development in Accrington. 

It had earlier unveiled an ambitious new sustainability approach, where it aimed to tackle the housing shortage by delivering around 5,000 modular homes per year. 

Countryside has also invested in research and development at Bardon recognising the need to be at the forefront of innovation. 

Chartered Surveyors Walker Singleton, have been appointed to market and sell assets of the Bardon operation.

“The production assets of the business are state-of-the-art, with only one other comparable line in operation within Europe,” said Stephen Jones, director in the machinery & business assets department at Walker Singleton.

Meanwhile, Countryside is continuing a search for a new CEO and recently announced a decision to start a formal sale process for the group.

Technology in Countryside’s Bardon timber frame factory