Recticel

When Recticel, a leading manufacturer of polyurethane foam products for the building industry, was looking to set up a UK base for its insulation manufacturing business, it discovered that the West Midlands location in the Heart of England was ideal. 

Recticel had two primary concerns when selecting the new site. Firstly they wanted to make sure that the location of the site was well connected geographically. Secondly the company needed to be sure that there would be a good, skilled workforce local and readily available. Recticel selected Stoke on Trent in the Heart of England for the new site. 
 

Connected to the whole of the UK

With its excellent road network, Stoke on Trent was deemed to be the perfect location as plant manager, Andrew Brown explains:

“As a manufacturer we rely on a good road network to make sure that we can distribute our products to our customers throughout the country. For this reason we had to make sure that any new base we set up would be well served by the road network. In Stoke on Trent we are a five minute drive from one of the UK’s major motorways and within easy reach of several others. This allows us to get our products to our customers in the construction industry with ease, regardless of where they are based in the UK.”

Stoke on Trent has also proved to be an ideal location due to its central position in the UK:
“Being situated in the Heart of England means we are never too far from any other UK town or city. Anywhere from London in the south east to Newcastle in the north west is easily and relatively quick to access. Even destinations in Scotland such as Edinburgh, or Cardiff in Wales are only a few hours drive away.  It is great to know that we can reach our customers quickly when necessary and excellent for our customers to know that we can get our products to them at short notice.”

Connected to a skilled workforce

Although the geographical location of the site was key in Recitel’s decision to pick the Heart of England for its new manufacturing base, it was not the only reason. With many jobs to fill, Recticel needed a location with a skilled work force. With the Heart of England’s strong manufacturing heritage, Recticel was confident that the perfect workforce would be readily available.

“The Heart of England has for many years been considered the home of manufacturing within the UK. We knew that by positioning our new manufacturing site in the area, we would have a workforce from day one that would be capable of filling the range of skilled positions that we had available,” explains Andrew.

Since setting up the manufacturing site in the Heart of England, Recticel has been pleased with all that the region has to offer:

“The Heart of England has been a great home to Recticel since we set up in the region in 2007. Through the Advantage West Midlands Regional Development Agency we were able to access a range of grants to help with the initial costs and more recently we have been making the most of the regions great educational institutions, with staff at the Heart of England site receiving training at one of the local colleges within the region. We certainly feel that we made the right decision to choose a Heart of England location for our new site and look forward to expanding further in the region in the future.”