A WEST Yorkshire BBC Dragons' Den success story has moved to a larger new £1.2m factory in Heckmondwike allowing the firm to continue its growth plans.

Renowned for its innovation of sleep products, Duvalay has bought a four-acre site on Station Lane in Heckmondwike in response to rising demand across its range of beds and bedding products.

“It’s been nine years since we entered the Dragons’ Den with our much-loved Duvalay sleeping bag, and we’ve already expanded twice since then.” said sales and marketing director Liz Colleran.

“In recent years we’ve formed exciting global partnerships with Arleigh International Group in Europe and Disc-O-Bed in the US, as well as with GO Outdoors here in the UK. We have also just signed distribution rights in both China and South Korea as we look to expand into the Asian market.

"To facilitate this growth, increase overall productivity and reduce delivery lead times, we’ve made the exciting decision to vacate all our current sites and consolidate our entire operation in a single, bigger factory.”

The move from its previous premises in Gomersal, comes after another year of unprecedented growth for Duvalay, which won the Manufacturing Innovation category at the 2019 Made in Yorkshire Awards.

The move, which was due to happen earlier this year but was delayed due to lockdown, is the next chapter for the family-run business. It follows a huge demand for its products as consumers took advantage of holidaying in the UK, as well as investing in contactless delivery of its new mattress collection.

“The extra space in the new factory has allowed us to move onto a double-shift pattern for most of our workers to help meet demand. It has also helped us to ensure we have a Covid-19 safe workplace with room for social distancing. Over the course of the next several months, we hope to be able to recruit from our local region,” added Ms Colleran.

Duvalay undertook an environmental impact assessment during the first phase of construction at their new factory. As a result, all waste from the previous factory building has been painstakingly separated into individual waste streams to facilitate the recycling process.

“Each contract mattress we produce contains an innovative material made from recycled plastic bottles,” explains Liz. “We are, therefore, on target to divert more than 180,000 plastic bottles from landfill each year.

“Our new factory will be a place where we continue to make responsible choices on behalf of our customers and retail partners.”

Duvalay’s new premises will serve as the company’s headquarters – housing all sales and customer service staff.

A showroom will also be accessible on the new Heckmondwike site.