FLOORING company CreateCity - the parent company of household names Frank's Factory Flooring and Maguire's Carpets - has announced it is to launch a wood division.

Over the next few months, the business, based in Darlington, will invest an initial £500,000 in the Planet Wood brand, which will be sold through franchises at the firm's seven Frank's Factory Flooring retail outlets around the North-East.

But it is forecast that, within 18 months, Planet Wood will have grown into a multi-million pound operation, with six branded stores across the region and a 40-strong workforce.

"We are optimistic about Planet Wood," said CreateCity's 30-year-old managing director, Jason Maguire.

"We know there is a demand and we believe we can give the customers what they want."

The decision, which follows a 12-month market research project, represents CreateCity's bid to capture a piece of the growing market for wood flooring - expected to account for 20 per cent of home flooring purchases within the next few years.

The product, made from English oak and available in three shades, comes pre-packed and is designed to combine the feel of real wood with the easy fitting of laminate, to appeal to the growing DIY and home decoration market.

The launch of Planet Wood comes in the middle of a busy 18 months for the family-run company following a reorganisation of its management structure.

At the end of 2002, CreateCity launched Cloverdale carpets as a separate division, which led to an immediate 12 per cent increase in wholesale business. A highly successful contract flooring section was launched in March last year and in October, the firm announced a £2m deal to buy the George Reynolds Industrial Estate in Shildon, County Durham, which by September will provide a new home for the company's headquarters and a warehousing operation three times the size of the present Whessoe Road base.

The wood division will follow the same model as Cloverdale and Frank's Contract Flooring, trading independently of the company's other operations.

Planet Wood is also entering the wholesale market and the parent company is investing in a fleet of transport units that fit on to the back of 18-tonne Mercedes Benz wagons. This will allow next-day delivery of more than 300 pallets.

Mr Maguire said: "Customers are becoming more creative and diverse with their choices of floor coverings and, as a company, we have to do the same. The introduction of solid wood products and the creation of this new division will impact heavily on different areas of our business.

"Through Frank's Factory Flooring, Planet Wood will provide our customers with yet further choice of carpet alternatives in addition to our growing range of quality laminates. Our wholesale customers will also feel the benefit of the additional ranges served by a well organised, carefully managed, time-controlled distribution system.