Plumbing wholesaler targets £5m turnover with move to Durham’s Mandale Business Park

A heating and plumbing equipment wholesaler is expecting to see turnover rise by 20% and reach £5m after opening a new branch on Durham’s Mandale Business Park.

Teesside property developer the Mandale Group invested £20m in transforming the former LG Philips hub, which is located two miles east of Durham city, into a series of industrial units.

Plumbing and Heating Supplies, the Gateshead-based heating and plumbing equipment wholesaler, has now become the latest firm to move in.

As a result of the move, Plumbing and Heating Supplies’ director Aidan Forshaw is forecasting a £1m turnover boost.

The business, which was established by Forshaw in June 2015 with David Langston, now has five branches after investing £100k in its 4,500 sq ft Mandale Business Park outlet.

Three new staff have been taken on and the firm’s new unit is split into two, boasting Plumbing and Heating Supplies and Inspira Luxury Bathrooms by PHS.

The Mandale Park branch includes a luxury bathroom showroom with an extended product portfolio as it targets homeowners.

This newest branches complements the business’ other bases in Gateshead, North Shields, South Shields and Consett.

Forshaw said: “We are very happy with our new branch and we expect it to add another £1m on top of our £4m turnover. We wanted to increase our presence towards the Durham direction, so it was a logical step for us.

“Mandale Business Park is new, clean, modern and secure, which is one of the main reasons we moved in because of all of the stock we have. We hope to appoint another one or two staff there within the next 12 to 16 months.”

Mandale Park is within Durham’s Belmont Industrial Estate, and is home to around a dozen tenants including a distribution centre, an auto parts business, a pallet truck manufacturer and a food distributor.