Donaldson Timber Engineering‘s (DTE) expansion programme is moving forward, with new plans to build an eighth facility in East Anglia and construction work progressing well on its first site in Ireland.
Fife-based DTE said final negotiations are under way regarding a new-build factory in East Anglia, with an anouncement “imminent”.
It also reported good progress on the construction of a 20,000ft2 trussed rafter and engineered floor factory at Mountmellick, County Laoise. Once work is completed in the spring, it will have a production capacity of 2,500-3,000 trussed rafters a week, bringing group output to the 20,000 mark.
DTE decided to enter the Irish market because of the buoyant housing industry in the Republic, where more than 50,000 houses are expected to be built annually during the next five years.
The company has also announced the installation of new Australian-designed machinery at its factory at Buckhaven, Fife. The Hydrapress will be installed in February and also at DTE Midlands, Ilkeston, later in 2004.
DTE managing director George Watson said: “This machinery is the first piece of innovative production equipment for our industry in 20 years – and we are the first company in Europe to acquire it.”
