News / Press
Kingspan Off-Site Refocuses Operations
23 Apr 2008
Leading manufacturer of MMC building systems, Kingspan Off-Site has announced a refocusing of its timber frame operation in Milton Keynes, formerly Pace Timber Systems, which was acquired by Kingspan in December 2006. The company will now focus on developing key account relationships, offering high quality and added value products backed by comprehensive service and support, such as the company’s soon to be introduced Code for Sustainable Homes Building Assurance Scheme.
The move will see a shift of emphasis away from just the ‘commodity’ manufacture and supply of timber frame systems, towards providing a more comprehensive level of customer service and support for its key customer base.
Gilbert McCarthy, managing director of Kingspan Off-Site explained the rationale behind the changes: “Projects such as the Kingspan Lighthouse and our involvement in the Carbon Challenge have demonstrated that Kingspan Off-Site has the technical expertise and manufacturing capability to deliver industry-leading timber frame solutions.
“To take this to the next level, we believe it is necessary to work with key account partners to refine and develop the complete design, manufacturing and construction process to deliver repeatable and consistent, high quality performance that meets and exceeds ever-tightening building requirements, such as those demanded by the Code for Sustainable Homes.”
The refocus will involve some restructuring of the company’s timber frame operations, with the merger of teams from the Milton Keynes and Potton manufacturing sites. This restructuring will result in a limited number of job losses at Milton Keynes. These job losses will be predominantly non-manufacturing positions.
The outlook for the Kingspan Off-Site business, despite the
current market slowdown, remains positive. The company is investing
heavily in CNC processing capability at the Milton Keynes facility
in order to increase the production capacity of the TEK Building
System. In addition, the development of Kingspan Off-Site's through
wall façade solutions, in particular the GRC Fabrik
façade range, provides Kingspan Off-Site with a unique
product offering when combined with its timber, TEK and steel
framing capability.
