A COMPANY started 25 years ago has vowed to keep on growing for another quarter of a century.

System Hygiene was founded “from scratch” in 1984 as a cleaning and maintenance supply service.

Now the company employs 52 people at its base at Altham Business Park, Burnley Road, and has an annual turnover of £5million.

And the boss of the firm, himself a System Hygiene stalwart, said the key to success is steady year-on-year growth.

General manager Paul Stebbings, who began at the company on the youth training scheme 25 years ago, said: “We started everything from scratch, with turnover at about £100,000 in our first year. Now it is about 50 times that.

“We’ve now got about 5,000 customers right round the North of England, from industrial firms to care homes.

“We look for about 10 per cent growth every year but it is all about getting out there and seeing customers.”

The company now trades in a range of branded and own brand products, from paper towels to bins, vacuum cleaners and workwear.

But Mr Stebbings said despite System’s ambitions, it will not over-reach itself.

He added: “We like to concentrate on markets closer to home, like the North West.

“We are happy with this area because we have got our fleet of company vans and if you go further afield you lose that personal touch.

“Having said that, we do some trading over the internet too and we are very optimistic about the future.”

Staff at the Altham firm celebrated the company’s 25th birthday with a series of events.

Among them was sales manager Liam Havlin, who has worked at System Hygiene since 1985.