Prime Minister, David Cameron, visited the Portakabin manufacturing centre and international headquarters in York and welcomed the Group’s announcement that it is expanding its operations in Europe with plans to open its first hire and visitor centres in Luxembourg and in Toulouse in the south west of France.
The expansion into Luxembourg will complement the Portakabin Group’s current operations in France, Belgium and Holland and follows its recent acquisition of Oecon Mobilraum GmbH, the manufacturer and distributor of modular buildings in Germany.
Speaking at a ‘PM Direct’ question and answer session with Portakabin staff in York, Prime Minister, David Cameron said, “Our economy is turning a corner, we’ve got to finish the job and make sure that people’s living standards improve in our country. Here at Portakabin, there are 200 extra people who have been employed and there is exciting news about the expansion of the company’s operations in Europe. Portakabin is a business that is investing more, that’s building more, that’s exporting more and that’s employing more – it’s a real Yorkshire success story!”
Derek Carter, Chief Executive of the Portakabin Group, said, “We were delighted to welcome the Prime Minister here in York. We believe we have a unique position in the market, which is not currently being served in Luxembourg and so this latest expansion offers huge potential and opportunity for Portakabin. It is also a positive move for the UK as the majority of our buildings for Europe will continue to be manufactured at our head office and production centre in York.”
“Luxembourg has one of the strongest economies in Europe and its financial services sector continues to be particularly buoyant. We have already had considerable success in the country, servicing customers via our Belgium operation, so we know the premium quality of our interim building solutions suits the Luxembourg market very well.”
The demand for Portakabin interim modular buildings in Luxembourg has continued to grow in recent years and projects have previously been managed and delivered from its Belgium operation.
In order to offer even better customer service locally in Luxembourg, Portakabin has just opened its first office in the centre of the capital, and plans are in place to expand this on a larger site to accommodate additional office space, storage and operations facilities and a display area so customers can see a range of Portakabin buildings at first hand. This investment will allow more buildings to be held in stock to further reduce lead times and improve customer choice, as well as to meet the rapid growth in demand.
The new Portakabin hire operation in Luxembourg will target similar sectors to its 50 UK hire and visitor centres, providing high quality short-term building solutions for schools and universities, local authorities, hospitals and clinics, commercial and financial services organisations, and transport companies.
In France, Portakabin has announced its expansion in the south west of the country with the opening of a new hire and visitor centre in Toulouse. This region is currently supported from the Portakabin base in Bordeaux. The new move will provide a strategic link between France and Spain and is a key location for the aeronautical industry. In terms of economic activity, Toulouse is the third largest city after Paris and Lyon.
Due to open this autumn, the base for Portakabin in Toulouse will provide offices, display buildings, operations facilities and storage for hire buildings available from stock.
