Cumbernauld manufacturer Cube Glass doubles up on space after £600,000 investment

Glass and aluminium specialist Cube Glass is on track for further growth after investing more than £600,000 in new Cumbernauld premises.

The precision manufacturer has fitted out and moved into an 8,400-square-foot custom-designed factory close to its previous base in the town’s Tannoch Place, which it has now let. Its new facility offers twice the floorspace.

The expansion, which comes on the back of a series of lucrative contract wins, means the company will also be positioned to open a new state-of-the-art showroom to highlight its products.

Founder and managing director, Gary Thorn, said: “We had originally planned to extend to meet increasing demand, but the opportunity to buy the new premises arose at just the right time.

Cube Glass founder and managing director Gary Thorn.

“It has all been funded from company resources, without any outside investment, and the fit-out, including the showroom, meeting rooms, air-conditioned offices, make the new premises like a brand-new factory.

“We have also invested £170,000 on a new CNC [computer numerical control] machine which will greatly streamline and accelerate the manufacturing process, allowing us to improve productivity, accuracy and further satisfy client needs.”

Most of the company’s sales are made to major companies such as CCG, Cruden, CM Steel, Clark Contracts and Morris and Spottiswood. The firm is nearing completion of a major contract at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh to replace windows and doors in a contract worth in excess of £1.2 million.

Turnover to October last year amounted to £3.4m, up from £3m the previous year, and Thorn is predicting a figure of £3.5m for this year while accounting for investment costs. The business employs 14 full-time staff and two apprentices, and is “actively recruiting to sustain growth”.

Cube Glass focuses on curtain walling, doors, windows, glass roofing systems and shop fronts as well as bullet, bomb and blast resistant glass.

Thorn added: “It has been an exciting period, but the ultimate aim is to make the company more productive and more profitable. I have a great team here, guys who have been with me through thick and thin, to the extent that it feels very much like a family business.”

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