More than 150 invited guests attended the event in Denby , Derbyshire , for the opening of Liniar House - the home of the company ’ s new warehouse , training centre and showrooms .

Chief executive officer Roger Hartshorn opened proceedings , describing the history and ethos of the company while referring to the impressive timeline that adorns the walls of the new Liniar showroom and charts more than four decades of growth .

Roger , who thanked individuals in the company , said it made a huge contribution , especially to the local economy . He said : “ Since 1988 we have built 14 new industrial buildings within a five-mile radius - a total of one million sq ft . Liniar House itself has been built in the worst recession in living memory .”

Alongside this , the company had set up its own Liniar Training Academy offering training to develop installers as well as recruitment activities in schools and colleges . The Academy will have a 6,500 sq ft training facility fitted out with dummy walls .

Roger said it was early in 2014 when construction started on Liniar House , and at times , getting the project completed had felt like a ‘ long , drawn-out process .’ But he added : “ HL Plastics now has the most integrated , well invested single site PVCu facility in the UK . Liniar House will take customer relations to a new level , and I am confident the strength of HL and its staff will continue to thrive with the

facilities and culture we have created .”

Roger introduced special guest Lord Digby Jones , the former Director General of the Confederation of British Industry ( CBI ) – the UK ’ s ‘ voice of business .’ He was also Business Ambassador of UK Trade and Investment .

Delivering an inspirational and entertaining speech , Lord Digby Jones told employees they were among ‘ the most important people in the country ’ who created wealth and opportunity for their communities and ultimately the whole nation .

He described his own rise to success from ‘ a Brummie who got a scholarship to a public school ’ and went on to read law at University College , London , to his current role as a non-aligned Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords . As such , he said his allegiances were first and foremost to the business community and he believed in ‘ socially inclusive wealth creation .’

Speaking about the importance of the economy and business , he

said : “ The economy now feels insecure , as though the world is going past us . People feel disconnected from politicians , the media , and business , and at such a time , when people are feeling insecure , they look to the dependables .

“ Business gives people a sense of self respect , self-esteem and a feeling of being needed . Business around the world is going to get on and succeed if it ’ s known for the quality of what it does , if it ’ s known to be innovative .”

Having toured HL Plastics ’ impressive facilities earlier in the morning , Lord Digby Jones praised Roger Hartshorn ’ s achievements and said it was a ‘ privilege to share in the success ’ of the company .

Values and vision

Further speeches were given by Martin Thurley , Managing Director of HL Plastics , and Nigel Bishop , Sales Director of Avantek Machinery . Martin , who joined the business in March , said : “ I have been

absolutely knocked out by first impressions . I know just how difficult it is to create a really good working culture , and it ’ s been the best here I have seen . It ’ s become clear to me that ’ s not by fluke , it ’ s by design , and has been created by Roger ’ s values and vision – that is , common sense and doing the right thing by people .”

He added that the company aimed for steady growth and was working to a five-year strategic plan , not ‘ knee-jerk reactions .’ He said : “ We have also got some exciting things that will happen in future with new product launches , and looking at other markets around the globe .”

Nigel Bishop told guests that the huge new Avantek Machinery showroom was one of the few places where visitors could see everything under one roof . The showroom is the only one of its kind in the UK – featuring a range of fabrication machinery which customers can touch , feel and trial before buying .

Nigel added that Avantek ’ s relationship with Liniar meant window fabricators all over the UK and Ireland had access to top of the range machinery and parts from stock , as well as the expertise of the whole team to draw upon .

Customers , associates , staff and invited press were all suitably impressed with the new building and the thought and investment that has obviously gone into it .

Guests were then invited to explore the new Liniar showroom and take an optional factory tour to find out how the state of the art extrusion plant operated . They also saw the new foiling plant , which gives the capacity to deliver ‘ special ’ foiling colours even more quickly .

Covering every product launched by the innovative systems company , the showroom beautifully displays the full and diverse range and provided a real buzz among visitors as they got ‘ hands on ’ with the products .