Rochdale based coach manufacturer Mellor has announced the purchase of a site adjacent to its Miall Street facility to enable the expansion of its manufacturing capacity.

The acquisition of the site will provide Mellor with an additional 15,000 sq ft of space which will be used for manufacturing and administrative offices. The £1m investment made by the company includes the purchase of the site and the planned upgrade and refurbishment project, which is scheduled to be completed by June 2018.

In addition, the expansion plans will result in two new production lines and the creation of up to 40 new manufacturing and administrative jobs for the coach company over the next three years.

John Randerson, Managing Director – Bus Division for Woodall Nicholson, Mellor’s parent company, said:

“This purchase and planned expansion of our facilities will massively increase our production output and although we anticipate the redevelopment will be completed by June, we anticipate manufacturing will be taking place as early as April/May 2018.

“Our expansion plans are the result of an increase in demand for our products which follows the introduction of a number of new and highly innovative vehicles launched last year, including the Strata – high and low floor versions – and our new fully electric Orion E small bus. This is particularly so in light of our moves into the European passenger transport market, which also commenced in 2017.

“In addition to increased manufacturing capacity, we also needed more office space and staff to handle our growing business and being able to acquire this site which is directly adjacent to our existing premises, was the perfect solution.”

The site being acquired by Mellor was formerly occupied by Honnor Marine, which produced small sailing boats.  Prior to this, the premises were appropriately a coach depot and bus garage.

Mellor is part of the Woodall Nicholson Group, which also includes funeral vehicle manufacturer Coleman Milne and a Specialist Vehicles Division, which supplies products to the police and other emergency services.