Timber window and door specialist GBS Joinery is celebrating a successful nine months – despite the bleak state of the UK economy.
And the Stockport-based firm is now looking to expand further in the market with a £60,000 investment in new machinery to speed up parts of its production.
Two large window orders earlier this year, one in Hale and one for a listed chapel in Stockport, have filled the firm’s order books to at least November this year.
“Business is good,” said senior partner, Nigel Hockin. “We set out in 2009 not to get dragged down by the doom and gloom and have been extremely busy.”
The investment has seen the company purchase a new four-sided planer, a 1300mm-wide double-belt sander and a small CNC machine, which will be used to increase production, and offer customers a standard range of sections and mouldings alongside its complete bespoke products.
“Our bespoke work is very important to us and we will continue with that as before,” said Mr Hockin. “But investment in new technology means we can run both the more specialised and the standard work successfully side by side.”
The company is keen to branch out and cater for the growing market of homeowners and renovators opting for timber windows and doors over PVCu. “We want to offer those who have more simple requests the opportunity to buy from a standard range,” added Mr Hockin.
The company has also unveiled a new website and logo. It also plans to offer customers the ability to order its new standard range of windows and doors through the website.
“We want to get more awareness of the business and the new products over the next month or two to fill our order book for the rest of the year and into next spring,” said Mr Hockin.