Business Reporter Chris Holland rounds up recent key business developments

Plans for further growth were announced by Bradford-based detergents and chemicals manufacturer Christeyns UK, which has doubled in size and moved into new markets through recent mergers and acquisitions.

The Belgian-owned firm also committed to keeping its two East Bowling manufacturing sites and improving its operations as part of its growth strategy.

The expansion plans follow the company’s investment in a 50 per cent stake in Warrington food hygiene specialists Klenzan and the £2.1 million acquisition of Alex Reid, a Leicester-based subsidiary of the Johnson Cleaning group.

Both deals completed in 2012 and the businesses have been merged into Christeyns operations, increasing turnover from £22 million to £46 million and doubling the number of employees from 110 to 220.

  • Bradford-based joinery firm Abrahams & Carlisle said it would expand its workforce after another strong start to its trading year.

The Dudley Hill-based business has clinched orders worth more than £2.5 million for fit-out and joinery projects and seen a healthy rise in tendering opportunities. The new work means the firm is seeking four skilled joiners to boost its 52-strong workforce and is also considering taking on more apprentices later in the year.

Director Jonathan Hemingway said the firm was expanding beyond its traditional client base of pubs, restaurants, hotels and health clubs to focus also on the retail sector.

He said: “These new orders are hopefully a sign that confidence is returning to the construction sector. We had a good start and finish to 2013 but activity dropped back a bit during the middle of the year. We hope that the increased orders and tendering opportunities will continue throughout 2014.”

  • Opposition leader Ed Miliband pledged that a future Labour government would build at least 200,000 homes a year to tackle a growing UK housing shortage.

He made the pledge while visiting the Pudsey site of David Wilson Homes, 25 per cent of which is made up of affordable homes. The visit coincided with new figures from the National House Building Council showing a 28 per cent rise in new home registrations in 2013 – the highest since 2007.

Mr Miliband said: “Britain has an acute housing shortage so we simply have to start building far more homes. That’s why the next Labour government will ensure that by 2020 more than 200,000 homes are being built every year and we’ll need companies like David Wilson Homes to help deliver that.

“I’m pleased that the company chief executive, Mark Clare, is a member of the independent Housing Commission I asked Michael Lyons to establish, to map out a path to achieving the radical increase in house building we need.”

  • Construction industry skills body CITB predicted that 16,000 extra jobs would be created regionally in the sector over the next five years, with 3,000 new employees required each year.

The report highlighted £1.5 billion of regeneration projects in Bradford city centre and in Shipley, including homes, offices and retail space – especially the under-construction Westfield scheme – as being key drivers of construction growth. New jobs would also come to meet demand for 245,000 new homes across the UK each year.