A Newcastle-based manufacturer has landed a number of large-scale contracts, including the replacement of Royal Mail’s network of red pillar boxes and the production of a hospitality trolley. The orders were awarded to the manufacturing arm of Stockport-based facilities management giant Romec and will see its Longbenton workforce grow from 80 to more than 100 by next year.
Despite employing 4,300 people across the country, Romec’s entire manufacturing operations are based in Newcastle, where it is looking to expand onto adjacent land on the back of the new work. The group, which is part-owned by Balfour Beatty Workplace, was founded in 1989 by Royal Mail to look after its estate of 2,500 buildings. The firm has since strengthened its relationship with the national postal service by providing sorting-office equipment and large business-park post boxes.
Work has begun on replacing many of the 100,000 red pillar boxes throughout the UK — these are now made from tougher metals than the original cast iron ones. Increased production at Longbenton is expected to help the group ‘grow’ its sales from £195 million to £280 million in five years’ time.