JJO announces £13m gross profit

Profits have soared to £13m at Lancashire kitchen, bedroom and bathroom manufacturer J and J Ormerod thanks to a bumper year of sales.

Joint managing director Stephen Greenhalgh said: “Such fantastic results are only made possible by our policy of continued reinvestment in JJO.

“Throughout the year we have transformed this building into an operations centre and headquarters for both the bedroom and bathroom divisions of the company and it is now the base for 40 JJO employees.”

Stephen said: “Most importantly we have taken on 10 new apprentices in various departments throughout the business while encouraging as many staff as possible to pursue NVQ courses and continue their own professional development.

“We are proud to be a British manufacturer, while being mindful of the dangers created by Brexit we understand that for strong well managed businesses there will also be great opportunities.”

Stephen added: “We benefited from the exchange rate up until the year end. “Our increased turnover was also as a result of the product mix changing; we are now selling more goods to which we add value, rather than purely buying and selling. This has had a big effect on margin.”