The global site of the UK's leading magazine for automation, motion engineering and power transmission
28 March, 2024

LinkedIn
Twitter
Twitter link

Cameron visits reshored fan production plant

24 January, 2014

Prime Minister David Cameron has visited the West Sussex headquarters of the fan-maker Vent-Axia to see assembly lines that the company has bought back to the UK from China. The production lines have created 35 new jobs and boosted the number of assembly staff at the site by 50% compared to before the reshoring.

The three new production lines at the Crawley site are the culmination of a two-year project to reshore most of Vent-Axia’s domestic fan manufacturing. The company has invested more than £350k in tooling for the new lines, which have doubled its on-site manufacturing of residential fans.

Cameron called Vent-Axia “a great example of a company that has brought manufacturing back to the UK, creating jobs for hard-working people.”

According to Ronnie George, CEO of Volution Holdings, the group that owns Vent-Axia, reshoring the production made sense not just from a competitive point of view, but also in terms of customer service and responsiveness. “Moving Vent-Axia’s manufacturing back to the UK allows us to both supply products abroad to the wider Volution group and prepares us for further international expansion,” he says.

“Increasing our UK manufacturing capacity goes to underpin Volution’s ambitions to be a more substantial international player in the ventilation market, which is illustrated by our acquisition of two Swedish ventilation companies during the last 18 months,” he adds.

The reshored production is also helping Vent-Axia:

Prime Minister David Cameron with Volution CEO Ronnie George during his visit to Vent-Axia's Sussex factory
Photo: PA Images

•  to manage stock levels better;

•  to develop products and make design improvements;

•  to reduce lead times for introducing enhancements; and

•  to cut CO2 emissions by up to 15 tonnes a year through reduced shipping and flights.




Magazine
  • To view a digital copy of the latest issue of Drives & Controls, click here.

    To visit the digital library of past issues, click here

    To subscribe to the magazine, click here

     

Poll

"Do you think that robots create or destroy jobs?"

Newsletter
Newsletter

Events

Most Read Articles