In a challenging year for UK manufacturing, Dewsbury-based Rixonway Kitchens has bucked the trend to report a record financial performance.

The company, the only UK kitchen manufacturer working solely in the affordable and social housing sector, has seen its revenues increase by 23% in 2009/10 to £29m, and EBITDA (Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) rose by more than 30% from the previous year’s record performance of £4.2m.

Chief Executive Paul Rose says that continuous investment in technology to drive efficiency and enhance service delivery is among the key ingredients of the company’s success.

“Our customers expect high quality products and service and we constantly review our offer to ensure we remain ahead of our competitors. A key factor in our growth is our ability to react quickly to customer requests and market changes; we have been successful in finding differentiators to set us apart from the competition.

“Despite undeniably tough times in the economy in early 2010, we have continued to grow the business over the first and second quarters securing a significant number of new long term contracts particularly in London and the South East.

“Clearly we will have to wait and see the full details and extent of “austerity measures” in the public sector but we have factored reductions in spending into our forecasts for the business and believe we are well placed to continue to grow our market share”

Formed in 1978, Rixonway manufactures in excess of 12,000 rigid kitchen units per week, from its 170,000 sq ft, modern manufacturing facility in Dewsbury, over the last 2 years the business has continued to recruit more staff and currently employs in excess of 400 people with a nationwide team of 40 on site designers.

2010 has already brought national recognition for the business when it was listed in the Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track in February ranking Britain’s 100 private equity-backed companies with the fastest-growing profits.

Rixonway believes that a continuous improvement service and its environmental credentials that have led to its success. The business has developed a variety of policies, strategies and targets to reduce its environmental impact, culminating in FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and ISO14001 accreditation. In support of the Government’s 2016 Zero Carbon initiative, Rixonway salvages 100% of the wood waste from its production process.

A constant review of the companies overall service package has led to improved internal processes, which have reduced lead times and resulted in a consistent ‘on time in full’ delivery record of above 98%. Rixonway has continued to invest in its IT infrastructure and the recent installation of sophisticated manufacturing planning software will further improve efficiency, reduce waste, and improve delivery lead times