A FACTORY extension at a County Durham shower manufacturer has been the catalyst for substantial growth over the past two years. Business Correspondent Jonathan Jones visited Roman Ltd to find out more.

SHOWER manufacturer Roman Ltd has undergone tremendous growth since it was established 18 years ago.

The company, based in Whitworth Way on the Aycliffe Industrial Estate, has been growing at 29 per cent per year for the past five years.

That growth has already seen it treble the size of its factory to in excess of 100,000sqft by 2001, adding 50 more staff in the process, to bring the total workforce to 153, including 20 sales staff.

The company originally moved to its present site, which then measured 30,000sqft, from a 10,000sqft facility next to the Elextrolux factory in 1995.

The most recent extension was officially opened by Prime Minister Tony Blair in January last year.

David Osborne, 33, son of the firm's founder Gerry Osborne, who joined the business two days after graduating with a degree in Politics from Birmingham University in 1992, is currently Roman's marketing director.

He said: "We had 14 staff when I joined the business just over ten years ago, and now we have 153 and a national delivery fleet of 16 vehicles.

"Our growth is well ahead of all our competitors. Most are pleased to grow by between three and eight per cent per year, which shows just how successful we have become."

"The extension to our factory revolutionised the way we work. We now have more of a production line, with the product moving down the line, similar to Nissan or other car manufacturers, rather than one person assembling the entire product in one spot."

Like Nissan, Roman prides itself on its supply chain, which includes around 15 North-East companies, and enables it to keep a tight reign on the use of stock, keeping enough for two weeks on its premises at any one time.

Mr Osborne admits that it does become harder to maintain the company's growth, and the firm constantly sets itself new targets, and tries to introduce innovative new products.

Such products are displayed at national exhibitions such as the Bathroom and Kitchen Expo in London.

That event in May, saw the company launch its new wetrooms range, for which it has big hopes.

Mr Osborne said: "Shower users on the continent are used to the wetroom environment, but the British still seem to favour the traditional cubicle.

"But that is changing. The introduction of our wetroom range - where the bathroom is one big shower - earlier this year has caused a lot of interest, particularly from DIY magazines and some of the makeover programmes."

In fact the company's wetroom range has been given the thumbs up by Nick Knowles, better known as the host of BBC's DIY SOS programme, which helps hapless consumers to deal with various problems around the home.

Mr Osborne added: "Roman now works closely with all major TV makeover programmes and many of our new products have made their small screen debut this year. We've worked with DIY SOS at least four times in the past year."

The wetroom range has even been endorsed by some MPs, including Helen Jackson, labour MP for Sheffield Hillsborough, who is currently lobbying parliament for better showering access and facilities for the disabled.

"Disability rights issues are becoming increasingly big news, and access to shower and bathing facilities are often high on their agenda," said Mr Osborne.

"We have an ageing population and an increasing number of disabled people, so concepts like the wetroom are increasingly important."

The wetroom range was also the spur for the first national advertising campaign by Roman, which has seen the company using full-page colour spreads in leading consumer publications such as Ideal Home and House Beautiful, as well as supplements in newspapers like The Sunday Times and The Mail on Sunday.

Mr Osborne said: "The introduction of the new range was the ideal opportunity to launch a national advertising campaign. We usually sell direct through specialist retailers who designate an area of their showroom to our products.

"Now, however, there's an increasing number of house builders, including the likes of Bryant, Crest and Miller, installing our showers as standard in their new houses.

"We want Roman to become an increasingly recognised brand in what is a competitive bathroom market. We are constantly working to come up with new concepts and designs, a job carried out by our own three-man design team.

"Design is something we take very seriously. For instance we are currently working on products that are the same size as a bath. People can take out their bath and replace it with a shower that fits the space exactly.

"We also have to constantly think of working with new materials. We don't work with plastic anymore. It's all toughened and curved glass, because that's what the customer wants.

"Most bathroom manufacturers have waiting times of weeks for customers to receive their products. Ours is measured in days."

He continued: "Most people only think about changing their bathroom suite or shower once every ten years. It's a major purchase and we are competing not only with other bathroom manufacturers, such as Armitage Shanks, Sanatec and Jacuzzi, but also the conservatory and doubling glazing manufacturers for people's excess cash."

Roman now sells its products all around the world, with exports making up a larger proportion of sales year on year.