Investment Testimonials

Olympia Furniture relocated its factory to the former bus depot in Ashton-under-Lyne over the Christmas period of 1994. An investment in excess of £3m has been made to refurbish the bus depot and turn it into a manufacturing unit. The company now employs some 250 staff of which over a third come from Tameside and the majority of the rest reside in the North Manchester and Oldham areas. Olympia is one of 18 subsidiary companies of a major European furniture manufacturing group with its headquarters in Paderborn Germany, and companies in France Poland and Germany.

The company manufacture upholstered furniture servicing retailers such as MFI and Argos plus a substantial range in all the major mail order catalogues. They produce some 3000 upholstery units of furniture per week. Olympia has recently developed a new range of furniture which is proving extremely successful and has led to the company currently recruiting new employees in several areas of the factory, including the first intake of apprentices in the upholstery and machinist department.

ASSI's Stalybridge factory is one of the UK's most successful manufacturers of transit and display corrugated packaging. 50% of the business is to food manufacturers, including many national and international companies. ASSI Packaging is a subsidiary of ASSI in Sweden who own packaging companies in Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and UK.

The factory has benefited from a major investment programme - modernising our converting machinery and purchasing the latest generation of corrugator, which makes 1,000 tonnes of paper per week into corrugated board.

The company is currently engaged in another major investment programme of conveyorisation to move board around the site from one machine to another. The company has an excellent reputation for service and quality and are a BS5750 Parts I and II registered company. One of the major reasons for its success is the well-trained and flexible workforce. 

Brother, one of Japan's leading electronics companies , has located its European headquarters at Audenshaw in Tameside. The company arrived in Tameside in 1968, when it purchased the long established Jones Sewing Machine Company as a base for marketing its range of sewing and knitting machines and typewriters.

Brother's range of products has now expanded to incorporate printers, multi-function products, fax machines, typewriters, labelling machines, and sewing machines. The company has experienced considerable sales growth and is subsequently continuing to invest in its site in Audenshaw, with new restaurant facilities, workshops and refurbished office spaces. This will accommodate the sales & marketing operation, technical support, training and showroom facilities. The site also holds Brother's European spare parts centre which is housed in a modern warehouse. The Audenshaw site provides excellent working conditions for over 400 staff. Brother has continued to invest at Audenshaw. It is impressed by the enthusiasm and dedication of the workforce, most of whom have been with Brother for many years. Communications-wise Tameside is an excellent location. The site is only fifteen minutes away from Manchester International Airport and the motorway system allows rapid access to all areas of the country.

Located in Godley Hill on the edge of Hattersley, Kerry Foods is part of the Kerry Group which is a major international food and food ingredients corporation. Kerry Foods presently employ 700 permanent staff and 50 temporary staff.

The main operations at the site include the processing and packaging of pork and bacon products such as sausage and sliced bacon, white meat products such as turkey rashers and distribution of some 700 tonnes of food products each week.

Inward Investment

The strategic sites of Tameside Park, Eastern Approach and Orbital 24 are now complete, but "active" sites include Ashton Moss and Parkway.