JJO posts record-breaking turnover

One of Rossendale’s largest employers has posted its best ever turnover of almost £45m despite uncertainty in the retail market post-Brexit.

J and J Ormerod Plc, JJO, has six bases in Rossendale with its headquarters in Newchurch Road, Bacup.

Joint managing director Stephen Greenhalgh said: “I will be honest, I did not expect the success that we have had this last trading year.

"This is our fourth successive annual increase in turnover and the best ever achieved by JJO, which next year will celebrate 150 years in operation. Gross profit margin has been affected by difficult market conditions, especially the adverse exchange rate following the Brexit vote."

“It has not been possible, or desirable, to pass on these increased costs to customers, however despite this, largely due to robust control of costs, the actual decline in gross profit has only been less than 0.5 to 1 per cent. This was the best outcome we could have hoped for. We have the right products and we have made the right investment to become more productive without increasing production costs.”

Stephen added: “We also invested a significant amount to improve our carbon footprint and our environmental impact locally. We also gained the internationally recognised quality management accreditation ISO 9001, which involves assessing all aspects of the business.

“Looking forward, we will be investing to upgrade some of our existing machinery and we have just secured a major new contract with a significant South West builders’ merchants, who will rapidly become our largest customer."