ONE of Rossendale’s largest employers has posted its best ever turnover of almost £45million despite uncertainty in the retail market post-Brexit.

J and J Ormerod Plc, JJO, has six bases in Rossendale with its headquarters in Newchurch Road, Bacup.

Joint Managing Director Stephen Greenhalgh said: “I will be honest, I did not expect the success that we have had this last trading year.

“This is our fourth successive annual increase in turnover and the best ever achieved by JJO, which next year will celebrate 150 years in operation.

“Gross profit margin has been affected by difficult market conditions, especially the adverse exchange rate following the Brexit vote.

“It has not been possible, or desirable, to pass on these increased costs to customers, however despite this, largely due to robust control of costs, the actual decline in gross profit has only been less than 0.5 to 1 per cent.

“This was the best outcome we could have hoped for. We have the right products and we have made the right investment to become more productive without increasing production costs.”

The kitchen, bedroom and bathroom manufacturer is proud to boast products that are truly made in Britain and this year invested nearly £1million to improve working conditions and its fleet of vehicles.

Stephen said: “We invested a significant amount to improve our carbon footprint and our environmental impact locally. We also gained the internationally recognised quality management accreditation ISO 9001, which involves assessing all aspects of the business.

“Looking forward, we will be investing to upgrade some of our existing machinery and we have just secured a major new contract with a significant South West builders’ merchants, who will rapidly become our largest customer.

“As a result of the adverse market conditions last year, we did notice an increase in business failures and a number of long-standing customers have gone out of business in the last 12 months.

“Any uncertainty causes a change in customer behaviour, as a business we have to respond to that. We have a new project on a three-month trial to provide assembled kitchens, we are introducing handless Germanic-style kitchens and we are rebranding our kitchen and bedroom range to reflect modern attitudes.”

By consolidating the gains made in 2016, the company’s cash position has increased by 50 per cent and now stands at £4.5million. Stock and debtor levels have held remarkably stable and nett current assets have increased by 22 per cent.

A number of long-standing valued middle management employees retired, but replacements were found from inside and outside the business.

Stephen added: “The focus for the coming year is to continue to achieve profitable organic growth.”

JJO currently employs 370 people in Rossendale across its six sites.