A high-growth Hull truck body builder is set to create 240 new jobs and open an additional 140,000 sq ft factory after securing the largest contract in its history.
Paneltex, behind the specialist kit out of thousands of refrigerated supermarket delivery vans, is to work with new electric vehicle brand Volta. It will supply the cargo boxes for the new range as the journey to Net Zero continues at pace.
To meet the demand, the firm is taking on a huge new facility at Newport, complementing the recently added-to city operations, on the back of a record year.
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Subject to planning consent, the former Intergreen site at Dianthus Business Park, just off the A63, will be transformed to deliver for the Volta Zero.
Chris Berridge, managing director, said: “It is an exciting development for Paneltex. We will be supplying to automotive standards, which is quite a high bar, and we will be the first doing it at scale in Europe, which could be quite a game-changer if we look five years down the line.
“Since Paneltex’s founding, we have been at the forefront of all environmentally oriented innovations in our field. We’re delighted to work with Volta Trucks to produce a zero-emission vehicle that is better for everyone, while still maintaining the commitment to payload, durability and excellence that the Paneltex name is known for. We are pleased to be working on such an exciting project and are looking forward to our collaboration with Volta Trucks.”
The Volta Zero is described as the world’s first purpose-built full-electric 16-tonne vehicle, designed for urban logistics. Thousands of orders have already been racked up, and Paneltex will ship the bodies to Austria, in a similar set-up to a significant North American contract it won early last year.
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Ian Collins, chief product officer at Volta Trucks, said: “The innovative and disruptive Volta Trucks model of supplying a complete vehicle rather than a chassis cab means that we need to work with the world’s best suppliers of cargo boxes, and in significant volumes, given our sales aspirations. Announcing our partnership with Paneltex for the supply of cargo boxes is the latest in a long line of agreements with world-class industry-expert suppliers that will support us in our mission to get the full-electric Volta Zero to market as quickly as possible and start dealing with the societal issues of climate change, air quality and safety that the vehicle is designed to address.”
Once the new becomes fully operational - with 2023 eyed for first bodywork - 240 roles will be created, swelling the team to 900.
The win comes as results for 2021 showed 50 per cent growth for the 32-year-old firm, up from £49.5 million to £74.2 million, building on a 25 per cent increase in 2020. Operating profit doubled from £1.5 million to £3 million.
“The pandemic saw a massive increase in home shopping, and a big chunk of our work is in that last mile delivery - that part grew massively,” Mr Berridge said.
There was significant investment in Somerden Road and a new export kit factory on Sutton Fields, with 56 per cent of the growth domestic and 44 per cent overseas, while metal fabrication and powder coating capacity and capability was bolstered with the £1.8 million addition of Phoenix Hull and Aztec Coatings Hull.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to component shortages for chassis building, with initial forecasts for a further 20 per cent growth through 2022 now scaled back - and a likelihood turnover will drop below what was achieved last year.
Mr Berridge said the Volta addition should add a further 40 per cent, propelling the business on again in 2023.
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