A 70-YEAR-OLD furniture maker says a £1.4m contract to provide comfort for today’s students can be a catalyst for the orders of tomorrow.

Godfrey Syrett is fitting out more than 500 bedrooms at Glasgow’s Foundry Courtyard accommodation block.

Bosses told The Northern Echo the deal, the vast majority of which will be made at its Langley Moor factory, near Durham City, can help propel turnover towards £40m.

The business, which also has a distribution centre on nearby Belmont Industrial Estate, is known for work in schools and universities, as well as the health sector, with the latter providing NHS work since the 1940s.

David Hall, group sales and marketing director, said that mix of youth and experience was felt right across the business, with its skilled workforce ensuring it continues to impress customers and secure orders.

He told the Echo: “We are a forward thinking company and are investing in people and the future of manufacturing; we are not just sitting here and getting complacent.

“The average time people stay with us is 15 years.

“A big part of our success is the experience and passion they bring.

“We’ve got apprentices who are picking up the work ethic and the passion, as well as bringing something different.

“We deliver massive schemes and have to be on time.

“We can only do that with a good team; it is about the people, they have got to care about what they do.”

Mr Hall also said Godfrey Syrett, founded by Ken Godfrey and Harry Syrett in 1947, was confident of hitting £40m turnover by 2020, referring to its growing focus on student accommodation and the private sector as a marker of its intent.

He added: “You never know what is going to happen in the economy and we have to get up to £30m first.

“But plans are in place to take it up to £40m.

“Foundry Courtyard is a really big scheme to be involved with.”

Mr Hall was speaking after the firm unveiled a refurbished showroom at its Newcastle headquarters to mark its 70 years in business.

The company’s Langley Moor base makes furniture including cupboards, wardrobes and bedroom furniture, while its Belmont warehouse benefits from its close proximity to the A1.

It previously supplied and installed furnishings for Newcastle’s new Royal Victoria Infirmary Clinical Resource Centre, which included 1,200 chairs, about 900 storage units and 700 work stations, as well as for Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust.

Its education sector experience has seen it supply fixtures and fittings to St Michaels Academy in Billingham, and Manor Community Academy, in Hartlepool.