Member Article

Bazaar Group lays out long-term future plans with Cramlington expansion

Soft furnishings firm the Bazaar Group has expanded into a 41,000sq.ft space in Cramlington, almost tripling the size of its previous premises, following a £500k investment.

Celebrating its tenth year in business, the designer-manufacturer and retailer said it made the move to improve workspace quality, operations efficiency and manufacturing capability.

To mark the anniversary Bazaar have laid out a new, five-year growth plan to double staff headcount to over 100, whilst also launching a corporate rebrand.

New facilities planned for the improved headquarters include a factory shop and showroom, an open-plan marketing and product design department, photography studio, canteen area and a 30,000sq.ft warehouse space, incorporating leading Japanese processes in lean manufacturing and production lines, known as Kaizen.

Bazaar Group managing director Mark Dolder shares his vision for the business: “As a team that has always operated under a shared culture of ‘small company, big thinking,’ we have some ambitious long-term goals that require new and improved facilities in order to be achieved.

“We want to become a process driven business, limiting waste and maximising efficiency and productivity. For instance, we already know that an error in pick, pack and dispatch takes an average of ten minutes to unravel, which can cost considerably more the later down the line it is realised. Planning our new layout, which is designed for slick, Kaizen-inspired operations, will dramatically reduce risk of error.”

Bazaar Group creative director Jayne Dolder continues: “We also want our consumer brands to become household names that the British public are proud to have in their homes. This means improving our facilities and operations to ensure we can provide the best customer service, product quality and design innovation possible. Our new factory shop and showroom will provide the perfect space to showcase the latest product developments amongst interior trend-led settings. We have also rebranded our corporate identity to reflect our capabilities and ambitions.

“Finally, we want to become an employer of choice that recruits and develops outstanding people. We already have a brilliant team of talented individuals and we have drawn on their ideas to create a state-of-the-art workspace that you would expect of a forward thinking and fun business. This means bean bag brainstorming areas, creative displays of our corporate values and colourful social areas for break times, designed to encourage interactions between departments.

Mark concludes: “We hope our pioneering new headquarters will inspire our existing staff as well as attract up and coming talent from across the country to want to join our team. Ultimately, we want to build our presence as an employer in the region and nationally, to attract and retain skills and talent in the North East.”

The Bazaar Group is a family-run business which launched in 2005 and has experienced over 20% growth, consistently year on year, without outside investment.

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