Wakefield-based Group Rhodes (www.grouprhodes.co.uk) has relocated to a new facility — only half a mile from where the business was founded in 1824 — and created 21 new jobs.

The group, which designs, manufactures and services machinery for the clay preparation, metal-working and materials-handling industries, has invested £800,000 in its new factory, including new heating and extraction systems, office equipment, IT systems and production machinery.

In addition, the group has secured a Leeds City Region LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) grant of £70,000, which helped to create the new jobs; these include CNC machine operators, service engineers, production support personnel, design engineers and sales engineers, plus a quality, health and safety and environmental (QHSE) manager.

It has also bought eight new commercial vehicles, taking the total investment in the business over the last 12 months to over £1 million.

To celebrate the move, Group Rhodes held an Open Day, which consisted of a factory tour for around 200 customers, suppliers and other stakeholders, followed by a presentation by CEO Mark Ridgway and the official opening.

Speakers at the event included EEF director Richard Halstead, who spoke about the importance of manufacturing to the UK, and Roger Marsh, chairman of Leeds City Region LEP, who discussed the regional economy before unveiling a plaque.

The Open Day gave visitors the opportunity to learn more about the group’s products and recent installations.

They were also able to use 3-D visualisation technology to gain an insight into the group’s future designs and to see video presentations on British manufacturing.