Rehau’s‘incredible’ recovery after lockdown pause

REHAU UK’s window profile manufacturing site in Blaenau Ffestiniog has bounced back from lockdown and is looking to further increase production capacity to meet demand for its UPVC windows profile.

The factory returned to work following a pause in its production due to lockdown in March this year and stayed shut to all but essential security staff until early June when it was safe to return to work.

However, the return to work has coincided with an extraordinary upsurge in demand with the plant now running at 130% of its pre-lockdown levels.

It has seen an extra 20 staff taken on at the 200 worker plant.

Martin Hitchin, chief executive of REHAU UK, said: “We were very cautious with our forecasting because of the unprecedented nature of the stoppage and our concern for employee welfare.

“However, the return from lockdown both in terms of the dedication of our employees, almost all of whom have now returned to work, and the demand for windows profile has been nothing short of incredible.”

He added: “We’re benefiting from continued high demand from our windows fabricator customers and a very strong home improvement market, with many people choosing to spend money on their own homes this year rather than holidaying abroad.

“The result is that we have had an exceptional bounce back from the lockdown and we have seen many new customers coming onboard.

“I would like to thank all employees and our customers for playing their part in getting us going again.”

August has seen the next phase of the Blaenau site’s return to normal trading, with 20 new employees joining the workforce and a further four skilled extrusion operators arriving from REHAU’s other plants on a temporary three-month placement to help support the new starters and the plant meet demand.

The company also has plans to recruit a new electrical engineer for its maintenance team and two new electrical engineering apprentices.

To further increase production, investment in new extrusion capacity is being fast-tracked.