New jobs created as roofing firm opens training hub for North of England

Flex-R has opened a second UK depot in Huddersfield as part of growth plans to increase both its capacity to train roofing contractors and the availability of flat roofing materials in the North of England.

The High Wycombe-based company has opened the new depot on Old Fieldhouse Lane on the outskirts of the town.

The Huddersfield depot has initially created four new jobs.

The 14,000 sq ft centre will primarily be a training hub that roofing contractors based in the North of England can visit to undergo training on its range of specialist products, such as RubberBond, Sure-Weld and LQD-R.

The depot will also have enough space to store a full complement of the products the firm supplies on a next-day basis as the sole UK distributor for US-manufactured Carlisle SynTec single-ply products.

Duncan Winter, trading director of Flex-R, said: “To officially open our new depot is a very proud day and a seminal moment for everyone connected with Flex-R.

“It has been a privilege to welcome so many people – including existing contractors, potential new customers, suppliers, those who specify our products and those who support our business – to join us and celebrate the opening of our second premises.

“This building represents a platform to drive the growth of our business: the new facility will give us a strong foothold in the flat roofing market in the North of England because it will act as a focal point for our team and local roofing contractors.”

The opening of the new depot for the company, which employs 22 people, is part of an expansion plan that has already seen it start to fill some of the ten new roles it will create in 2018.

There are four new roles specifically at the site, including a branch manager and warehouse staff, and the depot will act as a hub for new sales and technical roles within the company.

Mr Winter added: “The new training hub is a vital part of our growth plans because we can offer training to roofing contractors across the North of England who would have previously struggled to attend training at our High Wycombe base.

“There is strong pent-up demand for our training courses for products such as RubberBond, Sure-Weld and LQD-R, which we can only supply once a roofing contractor has completed the two-stage training process, which involves classroom training and then on-site implementation.”