A NEW factory has been opened in Malvern by Permadoor, one of the UK's leading makers of plastic-fronted outside doors.

The 33,000 sq ft premises, on the Spring Lane Industrial Estate, is three times the size of the one it replaces in Tewkesbury.

The extra space, together with modern manufacturing machinery worth more than £500,000, gives it the capacity to produce 80,000 doors a year. Permadoor, which has its head office in Upton-upon-Severn, also has two smaller manufacturing sites at Upton and on the Enigma Business Park in Malvern.

Staff from Tewkesbury have already transferred to the new Malvern factory, taking the number of employees across the remaining three sites to 139. This could increase significantly, as demand for the firm's products continues to grow.

General manager Tim Roome welcomed the move as a positive step for the company.

He said: "The new factory is state-of-the-art and equipped to meet demands now and in the future.

"This is great news for Permadoor and for Malvern."

Permadoor was established in 1989 and has more than 14 years' experience working with local authorities, housing associations and builders' merchants supplying made-to-measure weather-proof exterior doors to the social housing market.

With the Government's recent introduction of new standards for social housing, demand looks set to increase over the next few years.

The Malvern factory was officially opened on Friday by West Worcestershire MP Sir Michael Spicer.