Technical Textiles: Dixon-Constant buys second factory in the North

It has been a long time since we saw such an industrial investment in the textile world in Hauts-de-France. Dixon-Constant, a global outdoor textile specialist who has been a subsidiary of American Glenn Raven since 1998, plans to invest மில்லியன் 40 million in a new factory in Hortine, not far from Valencian (north). The company, already established in Vascual on the outskirts of Lille, has undergone a series of expansions in recent years, but has now completed 370 employees and had to find a quick fix.

“We have been looking for alternatives for some years”, Eugene Teleplank, director of Dixon-Constantine, explains. The company exports 80% of its production, awning fabric, interior and exterior upholstery textiles, marine textiles and flooring, along with two major brands, Dixon and Sunbrella.

48 hours delivery

After studying several hypotheses, including a location in Portugal, the team finally decided on a 10 hectare site with A2. The manufacturer emphasizes the excellent position of this site, which allows it to deliver to its European customers within 48 hours, which Portugal does not allow. Having two sites nearby allows you to combine them under one management team. Eugene Teleplank emphasizes the quality of support and reception of local authorities without specifying the level of assistance.

The new site will serve as a single logistics base for its raw materials and its finished products, which will replace the existing warehouses at the port of Sandes and Leskin. For this purpose the team will set up a building of 15,000 square meters and a height of 20 meters, which should be operational by June 2022. But the plant can quickly go into production because the 15,000-square-meter building already has space, which held a cotton mill a few years ago.

The project, which is expected to create about 150 jobs, will enable Dixon-Constant to increase its capacity by 50%, while securing land reserves for future improvements. Eugene Teleplank insists that the investment was not made to the detriment of the Vasquez plant, which will benefit from 4 to 5 million euros in jobs this year, replacing a quarter of the looms.