STEPHEN GREENHALGH was always destined to join the family business of J&J Ormerod. From the age of 10, he spent his Saturday and Sunday mornings working at the Bacup company and, by the time he left the London School of Economics, he had done most jobs at the furniture factory.

Today, he is joint managing director of the fast-expanding company which is now one of Rossendale's biggest employers.

J&J Ormerod design and manufacture kitchens and bedrooms for independent high street furniture stores throughout the UK and into Europe.

Stephen insists he never intended to join the Greenhalgh dynasty after he graduated from the LSE with a degree in economics in 1988. "They made me an offer I couldn't refuse," he explained.

With his fellow joint MD, brother Lee, Stephen took charge of the company 12 months ago and a number of changes are in the pipeline.

A £6million extension is being built at one of its sites in Stacksteads to cope with a growing order book.

Turnover rose by more than a quarter last year to top £30million for the first time in the company's history.

The growth was achieved despite pulling out of the budget end of the kitchens market which accounted for a high proportion of sales.

"We realised we could not be the cheapest any more and we decided to enhance our product offer at the top end of the market," said Stephen.

"We took a long hard look at the business and made some difficult decisions about product lines. We decided to concentrate on more up-market products. There was clearly an element of risk about the strategy because it meant phasing out the bottom of the range models, which, until then, made up 20 per cent of our turnover.

"But these results prove it was the right move at the right time. The future looks bright for the company and for our employees in what is a highly competitive market."

J&J Ormerod operates from four sites in Rossendale and currently employs 380 people.

When the new factory is completed later this summer, there will be around 30 additional jobs.

"The new development will bring an additional 50,000sq ft of new office space, warehousing and factory and the new site will be fully integrated with the existing factory," said Stephen.

"We are also investing in the very latest manufacturing equipment and ensuring that it will dovetail with production already carried out on the site.

"Work on the extension is well advanced and hopefully it should come on stream in late summer.

"We also plan to integrate a new office suite which will allow us to function much more efficiently by having our key people together on one main site. We have to move forward to keep the company competitive and to protect the jobs of our people."

J&J Ormerod can trace its history back to 1876 when it was a local joinery and undertakers. The Greenhalgh family took control after the Second World War when Stephen's grandfather, Ellis, bought it.

The undertakers part of the operation was soon laid to rest and the arrival of the Do-It-Yourself boom in the 1960s led to the family opening a hardware store.

By the early 1980s, the Greenhalghs moved into the fitted kitchen market and then added fitted bedrooms to their product range.

The main focus of the business remains on its kitchens and the company offers independent retailers a 'one-stop-shop' service to meet all their needs, including appliances and lighting systems.

Around 60 per cent of the kitchens are manufactured in Rossendale, with solid timber doors imported from South Africa, Italy and Spain.

J&J Ormerod is on target to make around 50,000 kitchens this year, which will typically sell for £5,000-£10,000.

The company has just launched its own retail outlet - Rossendale Interiors - and a new showroom has opened on the site of its old hardware store which closed at Christmas.

J&J Ormerod is still very much a family concern. As well as brothers Stephen and Lee, their father Allan retains an active role as chairman and their sister Gillian is responsible for purchasing. Stephen's wife Samantha looks after the room sets in the showrooms. And with their son Ellis, two, being named after the first Green- halgh in the business, no one is betting against a fourth generation at the helm.