Multi-million pound investment will create jobs as manufacturer targets growth
This week it unveiled a £5m investment in its Gloucester factory that will create jobs and drive growth. We look closer at Premiere Kitchen’s plans, and award it a coveted Raikes Recognition award.
Dear reader,
I hope you’ve had a good week.
I spent this morning (Friday 17 July) at the Driving Gloucestershire Investment event at Patch in Gloucester, staged by Peter Allison’s Business Insights team.
The day started with an excellent conversation between Ruth Dooley, a senior partner at Hazlewoods accountants and former boss of GFirst LEP, and two of the county’s MPs - Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown and Alex McIntyre.
As you would imagine, a day after the decision was made that Gloucestershire’s six local authorities and county council will be dissolved and forged into a new single authority this was the topic of conversation: wide-ranging, enlightening and thoroughly interesting.
I’ll be writing up some of what I hear for Monday’s edition.
In the meantime we take a look at the news about Premier Kitchen’s investment that broke this week courtesy of Prestbury Marketing. You may have seen the press release (put out as a new story elsewhere), but we’ve lifted the bonnet on the story a little, describe what we saw, and why the business is able to make such incredible strides.
This story is part of our Raikes Recognition series, which singles out and showcases businesses and individuals in the county doing great things.
The sponsors who make that and this whole independent news operation happen - the only independent, journalistically-led news operation in Gloucestershire - also give their view. A massive thank you to Willans LLP solicitors, QuoLux and Gloucestershire College.
Enjoy. And have a great weekend.
Best regards,
Editor | 07956 926061 | LinkedIn: Andrew Merrell | andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk
Briefing notes…
💷 A £1 million investment will allow a Tewkesbury precision engineering firm to better serve its customers in the counter-drone systems, cybersecurity hardware and submarine markets. Geometric Manufacturing employs 100 staff across three sites. The investment has come via the £400m-strong Midlands Engine Investment Fund II through its appointed fund manager, Frontier Development Capital. The firm has invested £6m over the last six years, including in staff training. It also runs its own degree apprenticeships scheme. Turnover has doubled in the last four years. It predicts a further 50 per cent turnover growth in the next two years and creation of six new apprenticeship roles a year.
🌲🌳🌲🌳 The Forest Economic Partnership (FEP) has announced it will create a Forest Business Charter – a set of clear, measurable commitments for the district’s economy that the new Gloucestershire unitary council will be asked to adopt, and against which its performance will be publicly reported. The charter will be developed in open consultation with businesses across the district, including sessions in each of the Forest’s four market towns this autumn, and published ahead of the elections to the new shadow authority in May 2027. Nicola Bird, chair of the FEP, said it was important the Forest of Dean “is not simply part of the conversation, but shaping it”. More to come on Monday...
📢 This morning (Friday 17 July) saw Mark Terry-Lush of the Forest of Dean Economic Partnership and Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Tourism ask MP’s from Gloucestershire to make sure the Forest of Dean was not forgotten as the county rushes headlong towards becoming a single unitary authority following yesterday’s decision that Gloucestershire would become a single unitary authority under devolution. Terry-Lush put the questions at the Driving Gloucestershire Investment conference at Patch in Gloucester. We’ll be writing up some of our notes from the event for Monday’s edition. Excitement and anxiety surround what’s ahead.
💷 More than £2.6m was invested by Gloucester City Council during the past year to support 1885 households facing homelessness with accommodation and housing-related assistance. A report endorsed by the council’s cabinet this week shows that spending on homelessness prevention and support increased by six per cent compared with the previous twelve months.
🏘️🏘️ Gloucester-based housebuilder Newland Homes has announced the promotion of Tom Sheppard as managing director designate, a newly created role to support the continued growth of the business as a leading developer of zero-carbon homes in the South West. More here.
Ideas for the weekend…
Friday:
Music festival Chalfest takes place all weekend at Chalford near Stroud. You may still be able to get in. More here.
Cotswolds - People, Planet, Pint™: Sustainability Meetup: Find local inspiration and like-minded friends over a drink. From 6.30pm. More here.
Saturday:
Stroud Record and CD Fair. Merlin Moosik brings its Record Fair to the Sub Rooms. A massive selection of New and Used Vinyl, CDs, DVDs and memorabilia from many sellers from 10am to 3pm.
Sunday:
Gloucester Cathedral will host a series of concerts to celebrate its new organ after a £1.8 million refurbishment. Wayne Marshall performs an evening organ recital on Saturday 18 July 2026 followed by a free masterclass on Sunday 19 July.
Multi-million pound investment will create jobs as manufacturer targets growth
This week it unveiled a £5m investment in its Gloucester factory that will create jobs and drive growth. We look closer at Premiere Kitchen’s plans, and award it a coveted Raikes Recognition award.
Premiere Kitchen found itself popular on social media this week when it officially opened the first phase of a three-year £5 million investment programme as part of its continued growth.
Former High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, Julie Kent, MBE, helped mark the grand reveal of the new manufacturing equipment at the firm’s Gloucester headquarters and the story was widely shared.
The £3.25 million investment will give Premiere Kitchens the capacity to increase production and improve quality, further strengthening its position as a major supplier to the UK’s social housing sector.
We wanted to expand on the press release from Prestbury Marketing (that everyone else just went ahead and published) with a bit of journalism. We wanted to tell some of the story we had heard Premiere Kitchen’s managing director, Andy Barham, share before about the incredible turnaround in the firm’s fortunes under his watch, how he’s helped do that, and how many jobs it will create.
It’s such an impressive story that we’re making Premiere Kitchens the latest business to receive one of our Raikes Recognition certificates, part of a series of awards we give to mark outstanding achievement by companies and individuals in the county.
Barham has been with Markey Group since 2007 and became managing director of its kitchen manufacturing business in 2014.
He was just about to unveil plans for growth when Covid-19 pandemic struck, and put everything on ice. It was a difficult time for the business.
Barham felt if he was to live up to expectations and achieve growth post-pandemic he had to be able to get the most out of himself, and promptly threw himself into a programme with Gloucester-based leadership development experts QuoLux.
He credits this journey as instrumental in helping him and his team transform the achieve those goals. Productivity rose from £120,000 per head to £175,000 – an increase of 45 per cent. And in two years to 2026 profitability more than doubled from £1.3m to £3.2m.
“I am sure that the leadership training throughout the organisation we invested in via QuoLux allowed us to take advantage of a change in dynamic within our market when a large competitor sadly fell into administration,” said Barham.
“The skill sets we had learned enabled us to scale up swiftly, whilst totally conscious of the change that caused within the businesses, allowed us to help colleagues through that and maintain control of commercial elements.
“This, coupled with a fantastic, vibrant ‘can-do’ culture built on an established set of values and a very clear purpose within the organisation.”
The impact of its latest investment will not just be on its output and customer service. It will allow it to create jobs too. Premiere Kitchens currently employs 140 but expects to create circa 20-30 new jobs by 2030.
It is understood Barham and his team have their sights set on 50 per cent revenue growth for Premiere Kitchens as a result of the current and pending investment.
Markey Group’s last published accounts describe a £41.7m turnover for the year ending March 2025, up from £32m the year before.
The latest investment at Premiere Kitchens also ticks many boxes for customers increasingly seeking partners who share their concerns for sustainability.
“We are completely focused on delivering the very best quality and service we can for any housing association, council or contractors’ budget and creating value for everyone in the supply chain from the end user to Premiere’s own colleagues,” said Barham.
“Add in our environmental focus that sees a biomass creating the facility’s heat whilst 1MW helps supply the electricity needed, we offer a very compelling value proposition for all our existing and potential customers.”
Premiere selected German engineering specialist Homag as its technology partner and its new manufacturing line resulting from the £3.25m spent includes an advanced automated panel cutting system and edge banding machine said to deliver exceptional precision, efficiency, consistency and significantly reducing waste.
All timber waste generated during production is now automatically transferred directly into Premiere’s onsite biomass heating system, providing heat and hot water for the facility.
Electricity is generated from one megawatt of rooftop solar panels.
“This investment isn’t simply about buying new machinery. It’s about ensuring we have the capacity, technology and quality standards to continue supporting social housing providers for many years to come,” said Barham.
“Demand for high-quality replacement kitchens continues to grow, yet relatively few major manufacturers focus on this market.
“We’ve built our reputation over more than 35 years by understanding exactly what housing associations and local authorities need, and this investment reinforces that long-term commitment.”
Kent said: “Premiere Kitchens demonstrates exactly the kind of innovative, sustainable manufacturing that Gloucestershire should be proud of.
“The company’s long-standing commitment to supporting social housing while investing in advanced technology is an excellent example of British manufacturing at its very best.”
Comments on Premiere Kitchen’s progress from the sponsors that make possible this series on brilliant Gloucestershire businesses and individuals…
Stewart Barnes, founder and chief executive officer of QuoLux, said: “We’ve been working with Andy Barham and many of his colleagues since 2021 across many of our programmes.
“We have witnessed at first-hand the meteoric increase in the performance of the business and the positive impact that leadership has had at all levels in the company, so much so that we featured it as a case study in our latest book, Realising Good Growth.
“Andy has consistently invested in people and now its time for new plant and machinery as per the business plan.”
Hifsa O’Kelly, partner in employment law and business immigration at Willans LLP solicitors, said: “Congratulations to Premiere Kitchens on this significant investment.
“This is great news for Gloucester’s economy, and what's particularly encouraging is that the company recognises that growth isn't just about investing in machinery and facilities – it's also about investing in people.
“Premier Kitchens’ focus on creating and guaranteeing careers within Gloucestershire, and not just jobs, demonstrates strong and effective leadership that is committed to retaining and developing talent, which is often the strong foundation of a successful and long-lasting business.”
A statement from Gloucestershire College said: “This investment is great news for Gloucester, demonstrating the strength and resilience of our local manufacturing sector.
“As a college, we’re committed to supporting employers with the skills and the talent pipeline they need to grow, and it’s always encouraging to see businesses like Premiere Kitchens continuing to create new employment opportunities.”