Citizen Machinery UK Ltd (www.citizenmachinery.co.uk) is to open a new regional office in the West Midlands.

This will include applications engineering and a 600m² machine showroom and will further enhance the company’s customer service offerings.

The £2 million investment in the 1.1-acre site at the Hurst Business Park in Brierley Hill, near Birmingham, will also “provide a significant machine preparation service to support the growing number of high-value automated turn-key solutions” being handled by the company.

Construction is scheduled to start in early 2018, and the new facility is expected to be officially opened late next year.

Deputy managing director Darren Wilkins said: “Importantly, this new facility in the heart of the country will complement our existing Citizen Machinery UK headquarters and showroom for Citizen and Miyano machines in Bushey, near Watford; it will also play an important role in serving the demands of our growing customer base.

The existing headquarter and showroom, where most of the office staff are based, was designed for the traditional Citizen sliding-head business; now, additional showroom space is required to support the increasing demand for the company’s 51 and 64mm-diameter bar turning centres.

"We live in a fast-changing world and increasingly face requests for machine deliveries within two weeks, rather than the two to three months that was the norm.

"The new facility will allow us to prepare more machinery and installations in advance of orders, which will inevitably help our customers win new business.”

Mr Wilkins said that, following the UK merger of Citizen and Miyano in 2011, Citizen Machinery UK has experienced significant growth and is now well established as a “European turning centre of excellence”, acting as a distribution hub for Cincom and Miyano machinery throughout the UK, Ireland and Western Europe — plus the Middle East and Africa.