Preston factory expansion to create 43 new jobs

Board 24 currently employs 127 full-time staff working around the clock Monday to Friday at its plant on the Red Scar Industrial Estate in Longridge Road, Ribbleton.

According to revised plans submitted to the city council, the company is looking to switch to 24/7 working with the addition of 43 new staff recruited locally.

The extension, at the rear of the plant, will provide additional storage and distribution of the company's corrugated sheetboards and create two new loading bays.

An expansion was originally approved by the council's planning committee back in 2014 when Board 24 employed just 79 people.

But the firm has now applied to increase the dimensions of Phase 2, adding an extra five metres in width and 3.5 metres in height.

The factory was first built in 1995 as a paper converting facility and has seen gradual expansion over its 26 years on the site adjacent to Preston Crematorium.

Board 24 has already completed a new lorry and car parking area. The latest extension is intended to be a warehouse storage facility for finished goods awaiting distribution.

The building will also house a two-storey welfare block for drivers, incorporating toilets, a canteen and a transport office.

In its application to the council the company says the extension is "to allow for increased capacity and output." The new jobs, it says, will "benefit the local community."