A BOOST to fundraising by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution has been received with the opening of a new £350,000 extension to its main depot at Thirsk Industrial Park.

The depot, which has been extended from its original 13,000 sq ft to 19,200 sq ft, is the main distribution warehouse for the RNLI's mail order catalogue goods, which form a major part of the organisation's fund-raising to maintain its lifeboat service.

The extension, which was officially opened by Alison Saunders, chairman of the RNLI's fundraising committee, was commissioned by the RNLI to help meet increasing demand for the catalogues, of which 1.3 million are issued annually around the world.

The new facility was designed and built by Thirsk-based Severfield-Reeve DesignBuild, a subsidiary of Severfield-Rowen, which built the original depot in 1988 as part of the initial development of the Thirsk Industrial Park estate.

The depot, which has 16 full-time and up to 35 part-time staff, is the trading arm of the RNLI, which supports lifeboat stations all over the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Depot manager Terry Burden said: "We are delighted with the work Severfield-Reeve has done for us. They have fully justified our decision to bring them back on board following their fine work on the original depot in 1988.

Mrs Saunders added: "The extension is a quite excellent and much-needed addition to the RNLI's existing facilities and will allow us to improve the efficiency of our operation as well as giving us the capacity to increase sales of our goods."

Severfield-Reeve Design Build managing director Lindsay Ross said: "We are pleased to have carried out this extension for such a long-standing client. It is testament to the job we did the first time around that RNLI felt confident enough to come back to us and we are happy to have been part of their crew."

As well as designing and constructing the new warehouse extension, Severfield-Reeve DesignBuild has installed a 5,400 sq ft mezzanine floor to accommodate a larger packaging area and automated packaging handling system as well as a new heating and ventilating installations and improved staff facilities