William Hughes is holding an event at its manufacturing facility in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
Local Plovdiv dignitaries have been invited, along with the Bulgarian team of more than 150 people. In addition, six members of staff from William Hughes UK headquarters in Stalbridge, Dorset, will attend. Their names will be drawn from a hat and they will be flown out to Bulgaria to join in the celebrations in August.
In 2004, when William Hughes first opened the doors of its Bulgarian operations, there were just 13 employees and a 1000m2 factory. Since then the factory has expanded four-fold to 4320m2 and a further 1000 m2 expansion is planned for 2015.
The success of the Bulgaria operation is built on the easy access it has provided to European customers that would otherwise have been difficult to reach. Changing manufacturing patterns across Europe have seen a growing demand from the developing local markets in Romania, Serbia and Turkey as well as traditional markets in the UK, Poland, France and Germany. Flexibility of supply means that orders can be met either from Bulgaria or the William Hughes Dorset factory.
Managing director of William Hughes, Max Hughes, said: “Establishing our first overseas production facility in Bulgaria has proven to be a key factor in the continued growth of our business. Bulgaria has not only grown its local operations year on year, it has also made a considerable contribution to our expanding UK operations.”
He added: “As a result we have advanced plans for significantly enlarging our UK manufacturing facility with the opening of a new factory at our base in Stalbridge later this year.”