“A major step forward for EJOT”

We take you on a tour of construction fastening systems manufacturer EJOT UK’s newly expanded HQ...

EJOT UK’s £6 million-plus expansion programme has significantly increased its manufacturing capacity and technical support, in a project which has more than doubled the size of its UK HQ, production and logistical facility near Leeds.

The building’s exterior design is consistent with the EJOT brand and Group buildings around the world, utilising the horizontal structure façade in EJOT’s corporate colours.

The company, which manufactures a wide range of high-performing fastening solutions for the building envelope and many other construction applications, as well as advanced engineering fasteners predominantly for the automotive industry, has increased the scale of its Sherburn-in-Elmet site to create a state-of-the-art facility tailored to the needs of the UK market, with class-leading support for customer innovation. Robert Hardstaff, Managing Director at EJOT UK, said: “This investment in our UK site represents a major step forward for EJOT, giving us a unique position in the market in respect of the levels of technical, logistical and sales support we can offer, with a strengthening of our manufacturing base.”

Warehouse and storage at EJOT UK is now three times larger by height: In addition to providing extensive new manufacturing space and a logistical control centre that will increase storage capacity by 40%, the expansion also includes a state-of-the-art upgrade to the EJOT Applitec centre – an industry one-off, according to EJOT UK.

This ‘application technology’ facility will be three times the size of the existing centre, providing a resource for multi-dimensional fastener testing and new product development in conjunction with OEMs. The testing resources available here will include two new environmental testing laboratories where the long-term performance of EJOT products can be reliably assessed.

“The investment programme represents so much more than just a building extension,” says EJOT UK MD Robert Hardstaff. “It supports EJOT’s family business approach that drives our global strategy to continuously re-invest profits into the business and futureproof our employment needs by providing youth career opportunities in highly skilled and technical roles.”

EJOT UK currently has 15% of its UK HQ workforce benefitting from an apprenticeship programme in various formats. These apply to different areas of the business and range from technical services and quality management, through to engineering and manufacturing. Qualification goals are both vocational and degree level where participants attend college or university on a day release basis.

The extended facility will create a platform to develop EJOT UK’s future workforce and give it an additional 4,500 m² of operational space. In addition to expanding the production of EJOT’s core range of fasteners for both the construction and engineering sectors, the extended site will include a new facility for manufacturing the LIEBIG range of heavy duty anchors– a brand the EJOT Group acquired from Finnish company Sormat in 2017.

German headquartered EJOT GmbH, still a privately owned German family business, established its UK operations in Leeds in 1985, but it has a much longer heritage extending back to 1922. And as the EJOT Group approaches its 100th anniversary, recent investments in its plants in Poland, India, the USA, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico and China, as well as the UK, ensure the business is in excellent shape for its next era.