Park-home maker looks forward to a golden year

Omar is looking forward to celebrating its 50th anniversary next year.

By volume, they are the second biggest park and holiday-home manufacturer in the UK. But by the time they get to their golden anniversary in 2015, the operation will be even bigger.

Their 180,000sq ft factory in Brandon, Suffolk, is being expanded to 220,000sq ft, making it the biggest of its type in the country.

Some 20 units a week come off the four production lines and there are plans to increase that figure to 24 over the next 12 months. That reflects a £9 million order book – with a core business which has more than doubled over the past 3-4 years.

Working on, supplying and administering those production lines, including the sales staff selling what comes off at the end, is a workforce of 227. Sixty additional jobs have been created so far this year with the objective of increasing the total by 100 during the course of 2014.

Looking to expand last year, Omar went out and did some deals. One was with a long-established former competitor, Wessex, which itself had a history dating back half a century.

The then-owners had decided that there was no future for the business, based in Dorset. So in October, it was acquired by Omar and the whole operation transferred to Brandon.

That was within months of Omar signing a collaboration and manufacturing agreement with Finnish Log Homes. This Essex-based company offers a range of log buildings for leisure, residential and commercial use.

Following the agreement, Omar now manufacture FLH’s lodges (including versions built to British Standard BS 3632), log cabins too.

Those developments all add up to ensure that in future, when it comes to park and holiday homes, its core business, Omar will be well placed to take an even bigger bite of the cherry.

More information from www.omar.co.uk

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