Westbury plc’s Space4 modular timber frame factory grew production by 70% to 2,200 house shells in the past year, the company said after posting record annual profits of £120m.
The national housebuilder’s pre-tax profits for the year ended February 28 were up by 13% on a year ago, while turnover increased 2% to £893m. The Castle Bromwich Space4 facility attained a break-even position.
Group chief executive Martin Donohue said Space4’s progress was achieved despite more challenging trading conditions in the second half and planning difficulties holding back social housing demand.
He said: “Our key priority for the current year is to expand sales to third parties, particularly in the social and affordable housing arena.
“This is the sector in which we believe that the greatest opportunities for Space4 exist, as it is ideally suited to the production of family homes to standard designs of a repetitive nature.”
Westbury chairman Geoffrey Madrell said Space4 has now delivered more than 4,000 homes since opening in 2001 and is helping to improve build quality and consistency, plus speed of construction.
