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13
May
More than 100 jobs to be created at brand new factory in Harrogate
A multinational company is to create at least 100 new jobs at a brand new factory on Harrogate’s Hornbeam Park.
The high-tech facility was officially opened this morning by Avery Dennison, a global company that has moved operations from a base at Thirsk to enable further growth.
The Ohio-headquartered company manufactures pressure-sensitive adhesive materials, brand labels and tags for clothing, and specialised medical products. It employs about 35,000 people in more than 50 countries around the world.
The firm, which is listed on the New York stock exchange, yesterday signed an exclusive five-year extension deal with the Premier League to supply names, numbers and embellishments for the league’s 20 clubs.
The opening event was attended by about 40 staff and clients, as well as Tony Underwood, the former Leicester Tigers and England rugby union wing.
Room for growth
Speaking after the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Steve Mason, vice president of the firm’s Embelex division, told the Stray Ferret that the move to Harrogate had been prompted by Avery Dennison’s acquisition in 2023 of Dutch labelling company Thermopatch.
He said:
They had a unit in Thirsk which they’d outgrown. They had no space for extra capacity and were literally refusing business because they didn’t have anywhere to make it.
So having acquired them, we needed to expand, and believe it or not, in this area it’s not easy to find manufacturing space with the right equipment, i.e. power supply for our types of machines, etc.
When we came here, we were a little bit concerned initially that it’s a two-floor site, so we didn’t know if there’d be enough headroom to fit in what we do. But the landlord was very accommodating and worked with us to create some more natural light – and a brilliant facility, in the end.
So Harrogate it is. Harrogate’s an amazing, beautiful place, and in some ways that’s a little bit rare for us, to put effectively a production unit in a business park rather than in an industrial estate. So it’s fantastic to be here.
Steve Mason addresses attendees at the factory opening opening.
About 70% of what the company supplies will go to the UK market; the other 30% will go overseas.
The newly extended deal with the Premier League will directly benefit the Harrogate operation.
Mr Mason said:
Normally, a sponsor logo would be applied to a shirt at source – in Vietnam, China or Thailand – and those jerseys have to leave by a certain date to be ready for a kit launch, which tends to be set in stone for a new season.
But a lot of football clubs now are agreeing a sponsor logo very late in the year, so sometimes the shirts have to leave the source country without one.
So one of the big services this facility will offer is if a club agrees a deal late, we’ll take the jerseys in and put the sponsor logo on.
Recruitment
The new 3,400 sq m facility will initially employ 35 to 40 people, some of them moving or commuting from Thirsk, but that figure looks set to increase as the division grows.
Mr Mason said:
We have quite a seasonal business, because a lot of what passes through here is sports-orientated. If it’s English soccer, we’re going to end up peaking pre-season, around June, July, August, so we could end up seeing up to 100 people around that time, and then it will curtail towards Christmas and early in the new year.
But our plan is to invest in equipment, so those base numbers are going to lift over the next three to four years, and I hope around 100 becomes the minimum, with opportunities for people to do seasonal work on top of that.
'Great location'
He said the company had been advertising for new employees “pretty exhaustively” over the last six months, and although filling vacancies could be challenging because of the technical nature of the roles, the Harrogate area was a good place to look.
He said:
It’s important that we get an availability of skilled operators, and they’re pretty prolific in this area, even if it’s from a paper printing perspective, as that converts well, so we knew we could get the right type of workforce here.
Harrogate is also a great place to visit and bring clients. Travel links are pretty solid – we have a big customer base along the M62 corridor and access to Harrogate is pretty easy for them. There’s a good quality of life here as well, so it’s a great location.
Potential Harrogate College tie-up
Mr Mason said that to ensure a flow of suitable recruits into the future, the company intends to invest heavily in training, and he held out the possibility that schemes could be developed in conjunction with Harrogate College, which is also located on Hornbeam Park.
He said:
We recognise that we have to find people with expertise to complement what we’ve got, but we also have to develop talent, so where we bring people into the organisation at the lower levels, we give them great training programmes.
So being so close to Harrogate College is really interesting for us, because we will innovate here – processes and machinery – so being able to forge links with the community, and potentially the college, is something we’d love to look at.
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