New jobs to be created as Atlas Leisure Homes reveals plans for new Hull factory

Atlas Leisure Homes, the Hull-based holiday homes business, has unveiled plans for a new factory in Hull as part of a major investment and job creation programme.

Atlas Leisure Homes is set to move its holiday home storage facility to the former Birds Eye Wall’s site, covering nearly 18-acres.

The company will then embark on the construction of a new factory to open in time for the expiry of the lease at its current premises in Wiltshire Road, Hull, in late 2019.

Atlas employs nearly 250 people with turnover expected to exceed £30m this year.

But joint managing director Andy Innes said the time has come to remove the restrictions imposed by the current premises, which are costing money and jobs.

He said: “We can’t maintain the improvement in our performance if we remain in these buildings. During the last 12 months we have rejected hundreds of orders.

“We could have added around £15m to our turnover and employed another 80 local people, and that is an indication of the difference a new factory will make.”

Mr Innes has worked closely with Hull City Council, which is set to help Atlas modernise its facilities and create new jobs.

The company has taken on 14 apprentices in the last three years and has also recruited long-term unemployed people through the Green Port Hull Pathway to Employment programme.

Councillor Martin Mancey, whose Energy City portfolio includes economic development, said: “I welcome the company’s plans to create a new, purpose-built facility and centre of excellence at the Birds Eye Wall’s site and I am delighted that the City Council’s support for Atlas has resulted in such positive outcomes.

“I am impressed by the company’s success in growing its business and by the large number of jobs created, many of which have provided work for local people who were previously unemployed.

“We can’t afford to have any business constrained by a lack of available sites and we can’t pass up on the job opportunities that arise from this sort of investment. The first phase of the company’s development plans is for storage of mobile homes but the longer term plan – and the bigger picture – is construction of a modern factory that will continue the growth of Atlas Leisure Homes. That’s the big prize.”

A planning application for the storage project is due to be considered by Hull City Council in October or November.