57 new jobs as kitchen firm Woodland plans expansion years in business with major investment and jobs

Family run business Woodland is celebrating 30 years of manufacturing kitchens in Rasharkin and is recruiting 57 new staff as part of a £4 million investment in a state of the art marketing suite in a bid to establish itself as a major player in the bathroom and kitchen furniture market.

Backed with £471,624 in support from Invest Northern Ireland, the new jobs will generate more than £1.1m annually in additional salaries for the local economy and create skilled employment in the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Area.

“After a considerable amount of market research, design concepts and inspiration we are delighted to launch our new product development and marketing suite, which coincides with our thirtieth year in business,” said Woodland MD Brian McCloskey.

“Our growth strategy in recent years has focused on positioning Woodland as a complete design and solutions provider. As a result, we have made encouraging progress in securing contracts to design, manufacture and supply cabinets to major distributors throughout Great Britain.

“We have also experienced strong growth in the hotel and aparthotel sector for our contracts division by delivering projects in London, Edinburgh and Dublin. And, we’ve secured the contract to manufacture, supply and install the bedroom and bathroom furniture for the 304 bedroom Grand Central Hotel in Belfast.”

“This new investment, supported by Invest NI, will give us the additional resources and capabilities we need to implement an aggressive marketing campaign to help us win new business,” he added.

Welcoming the investment, Invest NI chief excutive Alastair Hamilton said the firm’s success had been underpinned by a cycle of new product development and design enabling it to keep ahead of its competition.

“Invest NI has been working closely with Woodland to support its growth.

“Our support has helped the company increase its workforce and grow its exports which in turn is benefitting the local economy. I look forward to watching Woodland’s continued success.”

As well as job creation, Invest NI support has enabled staff upskilling and the development of Woodland’s Epicor resource planning software.

The new jobs, 30 of which are in already place, include production operatives and roles in design, sales and IT.