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Almost everyone in the country is likely to have come across its products before, but they are unlikely to be familiar with the name Vita Group despite it being one of the largest companies in Greater Manchester.

The group started out with humble origins in Oldham only a few years after the Second World War but has now grown to have about 3,000 employees and almost 40 sites across the globe.

Making what's called flexible polyurethane (PU) foam, the group's products are put to a wide range of uses including mattresses, office and airline chairs through to being used by the construction and industrial sectors.

Now targeting a huge increase in revenue to about €900m by the end of 2021, BusinessLive spoke exclusively to group CEO Ian Robb about the firm's vital role in helping the NHS fight back against Covid-19 and its plans for the future.

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The group was established at Vitafoam by Norman Grimshaw with £100 at Glen Mill in Oldham in 1949.

At the time the business manufactured latex cushions and mattresses, securing Wrays furniture retailers in Lees as its first customer for £39.

The Vita Group is along way from those humble beginnings having now established itself as one of the largest companies in the North West.

The group had been growing for some time before it was acquired by Strategic Value Partners in 2018.

The new owners vowed to invest more in the group and promptly hired Ian Robb as its new chief executive after he had spent 20 years working for Morgan Advanced Materials in Singapore.

"It's a very interesting industry but I have to say I didn't know too much about foam at the start.

"I was hired and I had a few months to speak to the senior teams and have a good look at the business so when I officially started at the beginning of 2019 I could hit the ground running with what I wanted to achieve.

"The main thing that struck me straight away about the company is that there's a good family atmosphere around as there are so many long-serving members of staff and it really feels like a community.

"The people really want to be part of something bigger and that helps a lot as an incoming CEO."

But just over a year after Mr Robb took over the reins, the Covid-19 pandemic struck, forcing the group to adapt.

"The reaction of our employees was fantastic and they really met the challenges they were faced with.

"We managed to continue our operations and do our bit to help the NHS combat the pandemic.

"I'm really proud that we were able to supply 25,000 mattress cores to the NHS as well as face and visor masks and the filters used in ventilators.

"The products we supplied to the NHS were used in the Nightingale Hospital at Manchester Central and it was important to us that we were helping people in our area."

Since moving past the height of the Covic-19 pandemic, the group has turned its sights on expansion and recently announced the €6.1m acquisition of IMPE from Naples-based furniture giant Nattuzi.

The site, which has production capabilities of 20k tonnes per annum, is enabling Vita to release current production in Hungary and Romania to concentrate on further expansion in Eastern Europe and the Balkans region.

The expansion is also helping it export more to the USA.

The group also recently confirmed the acquisition of Technical Foam Services (TFS), a foam conversion business based in Corby.

Mr Robb added: "It's been a really exciting period of expansion for us and we are continuing to look at new opportunities.

"We have a list of a few businesses that we would like to add to our group, including one big one but I can't say who that is for obvious reasons.

"The recent expansion has grown our group to 38 sites across the world and that is only going to rise from there.

"Our strategy is to keep on investing in the sites that we have, in our people, and in growing the group organically as well as through M&A opportunities.

"The results of that are expected to be seen by the end of the year because if things continue to go as they are currently, our revenue for 2021 is set to be about €900m.

"That compares to a revenue of c.€650m in the year before.

"In 2020 we made a better profit than in 2019 despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"2021 will be a record year for us in terms of turnover and profit."

The Middleton-headquartered group's presence in the North West has also been on the rise recently.

It now has 500 employees based in the region, up from 400 a couple of years ago.

"People don't know how big we are", adds Mr Robb.

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Sustainability is also high on Mr Robb's agenda, mirroring other North West giants such as Ultimate Products and Musicmagpie.

Conscious of its environmental impact, the group is using plant-based foam as well as setting up innovation centres and working with universities to bring the next generation of innovators into the industry.