A revamp of the layout of the assembly plants, manufacturing techniques and product range at Andover-based Ducal Ltd is planned by its new owner, bed and furniture manufacturer Silentnight.
Bill Simpson, chief executive at Silentnight, which bought the solid wood furniture manufacturer Ducal at the end of October, said the company had ‘splendid facilities and up-to-date machinery’ but some of its manufacturing processes needed to be updated. ‘There are six separate assembly plants and, as a consequence, things do not flow as well as they might,’ he said.
Mr Simpson said Ducal was not as profitable as it had been in the past, and sales were in decline. ‘We have bought this business to grow it and we want to bring new products to market quickly and modernise the existing product range which has not kept up with the times.’
Ducal, which employs around 800 people, recorded pre-tax profits of £1.33m for the year ended September 1999 on a turnover of £40.7m.
It is the second proposed acquisition by Silentnight which also has Cornwell Parker – the parent company of Parker Knoll chairs and Stag Furniture – in its sights. Mr Simpson said: ‘We are very keen on brands as we believe they convey lots of things about a company.’
The spending spree has been financed through the sale last year of Silentnight’s two bed manufacturing companies in the US and part of its spring-making operation in the UK. With £40m in cash reserves, the company needed to reinvest in complementary businesses in the UK.
