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Antrim manufacturer SAM is investing £7 million in a new warehouse, product development and improved distribution.

The company, which makes interior and exterior medium-density fibreboard (MDF), said the move will see it create new jobs in the future as the business grows by focusing on its customers which include merchants across the º£½ÇÊÓƵ.

It said it will spend £1 million of the investment in developing a new paint finish for its products, another £1 million in boosting efficiency in its distribution system and the remaining £5 million of the total on a 45,000 square foot warehouse at its Antrim base.

The business currently employs some 175 people across its bases in Northern Ireland and England and has grown significantly since being founded by Sam and Julienne McCrea in 1990.

Gerard Wilson, Sales Director at SAM, said the investment sets the business up for growth in the coming years.

“We hope that the benefits of this significant investment will be felt by both our customers and the local community for many years to come,” he said. “It’s great to see that the steps we’ve made for our industry have a local impact in the form of the construction of our new warehouse within Antrim too.

“We are committed to improving the impact we have, and on a local level we will continue our sponsorships and charity donations, in 2023 and beyond.”

He said the business has been focused on supporting its customers during the difficult market conditions of the last few years.

“For our customers and merchants, they have had three really challenging years with industry price increases, supply issues and delayed work with the pandemic. During this time we’ve worked incredibly hard to scale up our level of marketing support and communications with suppliers to make their lives easier and be a trusted reliable partner to all our customers.

“People and relationships are at the heart of what SAM is about; our mission is to ensure we have the right product, in the right quantity, at the right place, and at the right time for our customers. Even when other suppliers were struggling, we ensured we had stock so that we remained consistent and reliable.

“Our investment has empowered us to achieve more in this area, and provide an even better supplier experience than before - the benefits of our investment are felt throughout our whole customer base already, and beginning to be realised within our local business community too.”