1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160 
Southfields buys a bigger house
Page 16
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Body and trailer builder Southfields is moving from its Loughborough factory to a much larger site at Langar on the A52 towards Nottingham. The new factory is around 50% bigger than the previous building, on a site twice the size; this will allow Southfields to adopt a flow-line production technique— reducing build times and improving efficiency—while retaining an area for repair work and special builds.
According to sales director Jeremy Malpas, the existing site was operating at maximum capacity: "We'll be able to do more specials work than ever before, whilst also increasing our throughput of standard bodies and trailers; it's a win-win situation."
The new premises are in fact the site previously run by heavy trailer builder Langer Engineering, which went into receivership earlier this year (stalling its plan to import trailers built by Turkish firm Tirsan).
The 4,200m° factory is well equipped (with fifteen gantry cranes, for example) but is being refurbished by Southfields: two paint spray booths, a shot-blasting facility and a reinforced plastics department are being installed.
The firm is hoping to retain more than 95% of its current workforce, with incentives such as car allowances and a bus service; managing director Richard Jayes says: "Our skill base will be intact, and we will continue to be able to draw on our years of bodybuilding experience".
Other staff will be taken on, increasing the overall workforce.