Caddick starts on Howden’s £100m factory extension

The builder has broken ground at the joinery and kitchen business’s Runcorn site, which will expand to 700,000 sq ft.

Construction will see the creation of 18,100 sq ft of storage racking and transition space, an external canopy area spanning 15,400 sq ft, 52,000 sq ft of warehousing, and 117,800 sq ft of increased manufacturing space.

Howden’s £100m investment is expected to take roughly three years to complete, with Caddick targeting full operation by Q3 2028.

Harris Lamb conducted planning negotiations on behalf of Howdens. The extension to the currently 500,000 sq ft shed has been designed by Alan Wood & Partners.

Andrew Livingston, chief executive of Howdens, said: “Our Runcorn manufacturing facility is critical to our business and has been for many years.

“This expansion matters to the community and to UK manufacturing.

“Today’s investment demonstrates our commitment to UK skilled jobs and strengthening Howden’s capability to support future growth here and abroad.”

The site has been active since 1995 and now employs 450 staff, who are charged with making 70% of the company’s pre-assembled kitchen cabinets, a yearly output of 3.5m cabinets.

Julian Lee, operations director at Howdens, added: “This factory has been making our cabinets since 1995, and this investment secures our ability to keep manufacturing 100% of them in the UK for our depots and their customers.

“This expansion strengthens our vertical integration and gives us the capacity we need to support a growing depot network for many years.”