An Inverness window manufacturer has said a £500,000 investment in technology will help it break production records.
David Dowling, managing director of Cairngorm Group, said the new machinery on order would boost output from under 400 windows a week to 470 – but would not affect the number of employees.
The firm said a £190,000 advanced German welding machine will be capable of welding four corners of a window frame at the same time instead of two, while a further £300,000 has been committed to computerised saw equipment. The welder and associated equipment will be installed in August.
Mr Dowling said: “This major investment is a sign of our confidence going forward. This double investment will improve the quality and quantity of our product.”
He added that the “extremely specialised” saw is “superb technology in which you just type in the window measurements, and it cuts accordingly”.
Mr Dowling stressed that the expected increased efficiency will not mean a drop in the company’s 100-strong workforce.
“It won’t affect jobs as we have an expanding order book as well as placing even more emphasis on recycling everything used in our production facility”, he said.
“The new equipment is vertical and will thus free up more floor space,which is another benefit, as the present machines are horizontal.”
The expansion in production triggered by the new equipment will see Cairngorm break new records. In 2015, the factory produced 20,000 windows a year for the first time, breaking a record output set in 2008.
Cairngorm, with a £10million turnover, is a family business, with Mr Dowling’s sons Chris and Scott being directors. The business was started by Mr Dowling’s grandfather as a glass repair business in Wells Street, Inverness, in 1953.
