Employment Boost for Stowmarket as Two Firms Establish Presence

Two enterprises establishing new facilities within the same town have revealed intentions to hire a collective 120 employees. Bauder LTD, a manufacturer of sustainable roofing products, is constructing a warehouse at Stowmarket’s Gateway 14 business development, generating 20 positions. Yvonne Higgins, the managing director, stated: “We want to recruit from the Ipswich area and Stowmarket.” Assan Panel, a Turkish company specializing in building materials, is launching a £45m production facility, also located at the Gateway 14 site, and anticipates filling 100 “highly-skilled” roles. Separately, retailer The Range has previously declared its intention to seek 1,000 workers for its warehousing activities, also situated at Gateway 14 on the town’s periphery. Ihsan Tolga Akar, Assan Panel’s managing director, commented “the goal is to have the new plant operational by Autumn 2025”. These disclosures follow the recent approval of a five-year growth strategy by the Suffolk Business Board. A report from the board highlighted the necessity to expand “quality jobs” in industries such as advanced manufacturing and engineering, noting a minor year-on-year decrease in these areas. The primary employment sectors continue to be tourism, followed by health and social care, and then ports and logistics. The strategy further indicated that Suffolk possesses a 96% employment rate. Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the most recent “UK employment rate for people aged 16 to 64 years was estimated at 74.8% in July to September 2024”.