Connex managing director Brendan Doherty
Bathroom pod manufacturer Connex Offsite is to create 140 jobs over the next five years as part of a £2.5m expansion.
Connex Offsite, based in Newry in Northern Ireland, launched in February this year with a £1.2m investment. The company, which produces high-end modular bathroom pods for the hotel, student accommodation, healthcare and residential markets, operates from a 25,000ft2 factory and employs 25 people.
Now the business, which is part of a group that also includes Doherty Developments, Re-Gen Waste, and Re-Gen Robotics, is planning to open an additional 60,000ft2 facility.
The business has also implemented new software systems and equipment which it said would boost its competitiveness and is planning to recruit a further 17 staff members in a variety of roles this year.
Brendan Doherty, managing director of Connex said: “Off-site manufacturing is one of the fastest growing modern methods of building in the UK and is being embraced by the construction industry.
“It demands faster delivery of product into production lines, in some cases up to 20 times faster than traditional construction. So, not only are we reducing costs and saving man hours, we are also manufacturing a better-quality product and providing a controlled environment that is safe and warm and therefore a more pleasant place for our staff to work.
“The construction industry is facing a skills shortage because young adults do not want to work in construction. If we provide good facilities for them to work in, we are more likely to attract the skilled workers that we need.”
The company has recently completed a project with the Elliot Group worth over £700,000, for the delivery of 149 bathroom pods to Bicester in Oxford. Its second project delivered 24 bathroom pods to Ogilvie Construction in Edinburgh and it is currently manufacturing a further 116 pods for the Elliot Group, for Cambridge and Hammersmith, to be delivered before Christmas.
