New HQ in Dowson Food Machinery’s expansion plans
Bakery equipment specialist Dowson Food Machinery is relocating to a new factory in Keighley, West Yorkshire, which will enable the company to expand manufacturing capability for its UK and global customers.
The move will be completed by early December and will enable Dowson, which previously had two separate sites in Bingley, to incorporate all of its manufacturing activities under one roof.
Dowson is one of the UK’s most experienced bakery equipment manufacturers and exporters, providing bespoke British-built slicers, baggers, splitters, crouton dicers, dividers, moulders and other customer-specific products. Established in Yorkshire in 1982, Dowson acquired another leading UK bakery equipment company two years ago, JBS of Peterborough, in a move which combined complementary technologies; JBS specialised in roll, bun and flatbread lines, decorating units, oven loaders, dividers and moulders.
Managing director Nick Lacey described the reasons for the move: “When Dowson acquired JBS we gradually incorporated all the in-house manufacturing into our two sites at Bingley, but we have outgrown both sites due to our increasing success at providing bespoke systems to our UK and worldwide customers. This new factory will enable us to make additional efficiencies in our working practices, plus it will give us more space to grow.”
The new site has 48,000 square feet of space compared to the old sites’ combined total of 18,000 sq ft, giving Dowson over 2.5 times more operating area.
Dowson’s baggers, splitters and Rollmaster roll lines are widely used by leading bakeries such as Warburtons, Fine Lady, Delifrance, Greggs, Brace’s and Premier, and the company claims to have 70 per cent UK market share. The new facility will also enable Dowson to increase its workforce by a predicted 20 per cent over the next two years, from its current 50 to 60.
Dowson specialises in building tailor-made British equipment for bakeries all over the UK and overseas, with export successes stretching from Russia to South Africa.
