CR Smith offers a window on £600,000 investment plans

DOUBLE glazing supplier CR Smith will today unveil a £600,000 investment plan as it fights back against an 80 per cent drop in profits.

The Dunfermline-based company revealed that operating profits fell from 672,000 in 2009 to just 135,000 last year.

CR Smith said turnover stood at 18m in 2010 but refused to reveal a sales figure for 2009. The company's 2009 abbreviated accounts filed at Companies House did not disclose a sales figure.

Chairman Gerard Eadie, who has run the family firm since 1977, said the 600,000 would be spent on Mercedes vans and trucks.

He said the investment - and a previous 562,000 spent last year on improving the firm's showroom and IT system - had come from the company's existing cash reserves, adding that the business carried no bank borrowing.

Eadie, who was installed as a commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the New Years honours list, added: "We're enjoying the challenge.

"CR Smith operates in a very tough market and current economic conditions have seen sales slow, but we have always taken a very positive approach to our business and we are investing in what makes us strong and distinctive - our product and our presence.

"We've worked hard to develop the business, develop our products and get the pricing structures right. As a result, we've seen enquiry levels shoot up, proving that the desire for purchase and the underlying market is still there."

CR Smith said its ongoing investment programme has seen the expansion of its "factory direct" service and "roofline" products. The firm said that it is also planning a "significant investment" in its Cowdenbeath manufacturing plant.