Scotts Timber Engineering hopes to complete a new manufacturing site in January and start-up Cambridge Roof Truss said it had established a healthy order book for its design and sales business.
Both said casualties from the recession had taken out substantial capacity, which was now under pressure from a resurgence in construction.
“We are speaking to people who have sent out enquiries and are getting no prices back or sometimes only one,” said Sue Mills, sales director of Cambridge Roof Truss.
She and fellow former David Smith and Robinson Manufacturing executive Jack McMinn formed the company with five employees in September.
“We hope to take advantage of some large future developments; there are 10,000 homes planned in Northstowe and 5,000 at RAF Alconbury. We have a manufacturing agreement with Nuneaton Roof Truss, but our plans are for our own factory within a year to 18 months.”
Scotts Timber Engineering, part of Scotts of Thrapston, is moving table presses and computer-driven roof truss systems into a new 15,000ft2 factory in Redditch. The company supplies names such as Persimmon and GF Tomlinson and has been working on the plan for a couple of years. Twelve jobs will be created.
“There have been a number of large truss companies and smaller ones that have gone and we thought there would be scope for capacity. What is happening shows that this time has come,” said STE managing director Richard Evans.
“In the last 12 months demand has been increasing weekly. It has been filtering up from the south-east to the Midlands. It’s been the PLCs as well as the small and medium-size builders and some are looking to double their output.”
