Cartwright Conversions is on course to expand after opening the doors to its new multi-million flagship manufacturing base in Belton, Lincolnshire.
The 28-acre site gives it four times the production capacity of its previous home near Doncaster with room for further expansion to meet rising demand for its bespoke vehicle conversions.
The company – part of the award-winning Cartwright Group – specialises across a wide range of conversions including Motability vehicles, ambulances, welfare vehicles, mobile banks and Police vehicles.
The range extends to conversions of trailers into mobile eye-testing and breast screening units as well as libraries, with trailers being supplied by Cartwright, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers, from its base in Altrincham, Cheshire.
Since being established in 2016, Cartwright Conversions has rapidly gained a reputation for technical excellence – it recently supplied an ambulance to the Ascension Island, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic Ocean.
The state-of-the-art production facility in Belton has four production lines, stores, electrical and quality departments, extensive parking and planning permission for an extension to accommodate future growth.
Employees can enjoy taking a break outside by the adjoining fishing lake, which is part of the site, and the company intends to install more facilities, including a gym, and and a café-style staff canteen.
Steve Shaw, Managing Director of Cartwright Conversions, said: “It is very exciting. At Belton we have enormous capacity for growth and we will continue to recruit more people to meet demand from new orders coming in.
“We are seeing growth in Motability, patient transport services and the trailer conversion market, which is particularly exciting for us because it uses both facilities, –Belton and Cartwright’s trailer production in Altrincham.
“Our aim is to become the go-to company for anyone who wants a conversion whether it’s a Motability vehicle, a breast-screening unit, a wheelchair accessible vehicle, a welfare vehicle or an ambulance or a Police vehicle.”
Cartwright Conversions has Qualified Vehicle Modifier status from Ford and has approvals from Renault and Peugeot and an in-house design team who work on most of the conversions. Customers include the NHS, private health providers, UK police forces, highways maintenance companies, banks and individuals seeking Motability vehicles.
There are plans to increase the workforce from 80 to 250 and to introduce an in-house training scheme for workers with transferable skills and, eventually, to establish an apprenticeship programme to create opportunities for young people to build a career in engineering.
Mark Cartwright, MD of the Cartwright Group, said: “We are delighted with Cartwright Conversions’ new facility at Belton which is already playing a key role within the Cartwright Group’s expansion plans.
“It has tremendous potential and I would like to thank everyone who has made the move possible for their hard work and determination.”
Now in its 67th year, the Cartwright Group is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of trailers and commercial vehicle bodies with a reputation for innovation, design excellence and engineering reliability, winning a host of awards along the way.
Under the banner “Better, Built in Britain” it exports to Europe, Australia, UAE and South America, and counts some of the UK’s best-known brands among its customers.
The Group has expanded to encompass Cartwright Rentals, Cartwright Fleet Services, Cartwright Finance, making it a true ‘one-stop shop’ for trailer requirements, as well as Cartwright Conversions and
Cartwright GSE, which manufactures aircraft ground support equipment.
Group turnover has increased from £89 million to more than £184 million in just four years, earning it a listing in the Sunday Times Grant Thornton Top Track 250 last year.
