Firm opens £750k trade shop
ONE of the borough’s largest employers has opened its new £750,000 one-stop trade shop and showroom.
Kitchen, bedroom and bathroom manufacturer J and J Ormerod first announced the purchase of the former Jacobson Group works off Bacup Road, Cloughfold, in May 2018.
In December 2019 MP Jake Berry cut a ribbon - and an opening was being planned for May last year. However, the pandemic, and a series of lockdowns, resulted in the opening of Marshall House being delayed.
Joint Managing Director Stephen Greenhalgh said: “We are currently carrying out more than 500 deliveries a week nationwide and, with orders still coming in, we decided we had waited long enough and the trade shop is now open.”
The new premises is named after longstanding director Kenneth Marshall who lost his battle with cancer in December 2018.
Since Brexit was ‘done’ in January, JJO has been using the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce to assist with customs declarations to speed up the new processes for imports. Stephen added: “January’s bill alone cost £4,000 to £5,000 for customs’ clearance for products as we import a lot from Germany, Austria and Italy and we have experienced minor delays.
“Northern Ireland is still a bit of an issue as we send quite a lot of goods over there and because it is still in the EU single market it is like exporting to a foreign country.”
The trade department had been based within the showrooms at Rossendale Interiors on Newchurch Road, Stacksteads.