A LEADING interiors business has invested nearly £4 million in a new Bradford base which will employ around 200 people by the end of the year.

Cardinal, historically a shopfitting company for many of the UK’s leading retailers, is transferring its business from Shipley where it has operated since the 1980s.

The £50 million turnover company, which has been in Shipley since the 1980s, moved into the former St Ives printing works on Battye Street, Laisterdyke, this month.

Company boss Tim Considine said the move marked a new chapter in Cardinal’s history, which was founded around 1910 by his great-grandfather and previously traded as Sharpe & Law shopfitters .

Cardinal has bought the 140,000 sq ft |Battye Street site for nearly £3 million and invested another £1 million in new plant and equipment. The buildings have been extensively refurbished externally and internally, mainly by Cardinal’s own team.

The relocation was hastened by the Boxing Day floods which hit Cardinal’s Shipley premises, which are up for sale, and forced it to sub-contract much of its work.

The new site is about a mile away from Cardinal’s main 150,000 sq ft warehouse in Neville Street.

Tim said: “ We started on refurbishment around March to convert the premises into a showcase for our operations and capabilities.

“We are looking to future development as we diversify into more areas. While retail remains cenral to the business, serving clients such as Marks & Spencer, Primark, H&M and Debenhams, were are developing new office interiors, mechanical and electrical and ceilings and partitions divisions. This is a major new chapter for the business and a sign of our commitment for the future.”

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