Despite a national slowdown in the UK manufacturing market during Q1, North East furniture manufacturer Godfrey Syrett has seen sales grow 22% compared with the same period in 2015.
The firm, which is the largest office furniture manufacturer in the region, has reported a very strong first quarter securing sales of £6.6m and says it experienced growth across all sectors.
Group sales director, David Hall advised: “We have had a very busy start to the year, and what is satisfying is to see that business has increased across the private sector as well as the public sector. We have been traditionally strong in the public sector but now we are increasingly supplying corporate businesses within the commercial market.”
The company, which has two manufacturing sites in Killingworth and Durham, is bucking the national trend, following reports that activity in the UK manufacturing sector has been sluggish.
The Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index gauge for the first quarter was 51.6, the weakest resultin three years, according to the report from Markit Economics, which compiles the indicators. April showed a reading of 49.2, falling below the critical 50 mark which signals a fall in output.
Godfrey Syrett remains confident that it will see further growth as the year progresses and it continues to work towards its five-year growth plan, which will see the business almost double its turnover to £45 million as it targets expansion in the private sector.
The firm has made a number of significant new appointments over the past few months to help deliver its growth plan, including Neil Ross, business development manager, David Hall, group sales director and Stephanie Knox, marketing executive.
Neil Ross, business development manager said: “Despite the disappointing national figures we have been unaffected by the slow down and with a strong sales team in place we remain very positive about the remainder of the year. During Q1 I have established more than a dozen new customers within the commercial sector, ranging from call centre businesses to retail, leisure and logistics companies, and believe further growth in this sector will be key to achieving the business’ long-term goals.”