HMG Paints Ltd announce opening of new Training and Innovation Centre in Manchester

HMG Paints have proudly announced the opening of The Newton Centre and The Riverside Building at their manufacturing site in Collyhurst, Manchester. The new facilities provide the company with a brand new centre of excellence, focussing on innovation, manufacturing, development and training. Graham Stringer, Labour MP for Blackley and Broughton, was on hand to officially open the new site.

As the UK’s largest independent industrial paints manufacturer and one of the industry’s eldest family-owned enterprises, HMG Paints have committed to the future of the business. The opening of the new facilities shows that, despite the current precarious economic climate, HMG Paints continues to forge ahead and build for the future

In November 2011, the company secured a £1.2 million grant awarded by the Regional Growth Fund. Over the last year, this funding has helped finance the preparation of facilities specifically catering for a pilot programme focussing on the development and manufacture of water based coatings. The Newton Centre, named after the company’s long-serving and recently retired Production Manager, John Newton, will be the focus of this recent investment.

John Falder, HMG Paints’ Managing Director, and recently appointed Chairman of the British Coatings Federation Industrial Coatings Council, acknowledges the importance of constantly moving business forward. “HMG Paints has a rich history of innovation and the newly opened facilities really emphasise our ambitions to constantly develop the organisation. Our new high performance, water borne coatings department shows our commitment to developing and manufacturing innovative coatings that will benefit our customers and the environment.”

The Riverside Building is a further area of development on the site and will largely be used as the organisation’s training hub. In this facility, HMG staff, end-use customers and distribution partners will be provided with comprehensive training, exploring the products and services offered by HMG Paints. This centre for innovation and training will supply paint users and distributors will all the tools necessary to both use and supply HMG coatings successfully.

HMG Paints’ 30 key distribution partners across the UK and Ireland already have access to the class-leading Unit colour mixing scheme, in-depth paint stock and a direct line to the factory’s technical team. With the new training facilities at The Riverside Building, each distributor will be a specialist supplier in its own right, able to advise on complex product application issues and meet the surface coating requirements of its own customer base, in partnership with HMG Paints.

“Our organisation has always believed in developing our staff and that ethos has now been further extended to our customers with the introduction of our new training facility in Manchester,” added John Falder. “Our customers can now be guided through our product and service offerings at The Riverside Building in Manchester, and still rely on our excellent technical support throughout the year.”