Peel L&P's Richard Mawdsley with Starship Group's Dave Dargan and Starship Modular's Karl Venture. Credit: via Peel L&P

Starship moves house factory to Wirral

The modular construction company has taken 45,000 sq ft at Wirral Waters’ Marine, Energy, and Automotive Park, aiming for the manufacturing facility to be fully operational before the end of this month.

Starship Group will be relocating all its residential manufacturing from its current Deeside factory to the new space, which is located in the Mobil Building.

The new location is more convenient for Starship’s staff – 90% of the company’s current workforce is from the Wirral. Starship’s headquarters at Hythe is also a short distance from the new factory.

Starship managing director Dave Dargan said: “We are really excited to be bringing our offsite manufacturing facilities to Wirral Waters, which will mean our whole Starship team will now be on one single campus.

“The new campus will focus on delivering on our significant residential MMC pipeline and is expected to create over 100 new jobs over the next 12 months.”

Dargan went on to describe the company’s “fantastic partnership” with Peel L&P.

“We are working hard together to put Wirral Waters on the map as a regional centre of excellence for modern methods of construction and the creation of next-generation construction skills,” he said.

Richard Mawdsley, director of development for Wirral Waters, welcomed the group to MEA Park.

“Our strategic partnership with Starship Group has taken a leap forward,” he said. “As environmentally responsible businesses looking to the future of the construction industry, we are very aligned in our ambitions and our values especially in growing a local workforce, and we are delighted that they can see the huge potential for Wirral Waters.

“Wirral Waters offers many benefits to them as an MMC manufacturer and it is fantastic that, between Hythe and MEA Park, we will have the whole Starship team on site at Wirral Waters this summer.”

MEA Park will be changing over the next few years. Peel L&P is planning on expanding the site, with plans in for a £9m project to build 70,000 sq ft of industrial space. Ambitions are for this new space to secure a BREEAM Excellent rating.

Founded in 2020, Starship is dedicated to using MMC to build net zero homes that have high-grade insulation, thus reducing the energy bills of future occupants.

Recent headlines of struggling MMC factories – including House by Urban Splash going bust – do not worry Starship’s Dargan. He believes the Starship model, which focuses on panelised delivery with fit-out done with local labour on site, is one that works. The model enables Starship to be flexible and he pointed out that the company has a healthy, sustainable pipeline.

Starship Modular, the group’s MMC division, has delivered more than 50 modular homes so far this year, including three at Magenta Living’s Windsor Close housing scheme.

Starship recently made a key hire, recruiting former Urban Splash development director Simon Humphreys to be the company’s director of regeneration and place.

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