Weston launches £45m modular factory

British Offsite has launched its new £45m MMC factory in Braintree, Essex, with capacity to deliver 4,000 modular homes. The company, owned by the Weston Group, said the 137,000 sq ft Horizon facility would have state-of-the-art robotic automated manufacturing, and has been designed in collaboration with Swedish robotic engineering firm Randek AB. Once fully operational, the factory on the Horizon Business Park will supply building components to both Weston Homes, the group’s volume housebuilding division, and other builders on the open market The initial design concepts and commissioning of technology for the factory started three years ago, with construction of the building taking 12 months. Chair Bob Weston said: “Working with Randek AB, the launch of the Horizon factory has created one of the most automated light gauge steel panel assembly lines in Europe and the largest single production line in the UK. Offsite construction is the future of the housebuilding industry and homes manufactured at Horizon can be tailored to a development’s unique design vision.” The news comes as modular developer ilke Homes has been placed into administration, citing “challenges of unprecedented inflation and a lack of land supply linked to planning processes”. To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews