A MANUFACTURING firm which makes the lives of thousands of pensioners easier is to invest £1m at its plant in Consett, County Durham.

Bison Bede announced production of its latest stairlift will be kept in this country rather than going to a cost-saving production line in Korea.

Managing director Steve Dickinson said: "After considering all the options which included manufacturing in the Far East, we have decided that the workforce at our Consett plant was by far and away the best option for the production of our new stairlift."

The stairlift, which will be ideal for stairways with bends and curves, is due to be launched in the autumn and will add to Bison Bede's range of mobility products, designed to aid independent living at home.

Mr Dickinson said: "The next few months will be an exciting time, with the planning, preparation and training for our new curved lift.

"Bison is investing over £1m in the development of this new product and the company is targeting sales growth in the UK, North America, mainland Europe and Japan."

The Consett production centre employs more than 100 staff, a figure which is likely to be boosted by the decision to keep manufacturing closer to home.

"We are not only investing in research, development and capital equipment, we are investing in our team at Consett," Mr Dickinson said.

"It is the talented bunch of people at Bison that gives us our competitive edge in areas such as design, man- ufacture and marketing."

The company was recognised for its employee development achievements when it received the Investors in People award in December.

Bison has also once again been awarded a major contract by the Scottish Authorities Buying Consortium (ABC).

Seen as a vote of confidence, the renewed contract enables Bison to continue its four-year run of supplying bathlifts to the 12 Scottish authorities involved.

With its range of Aquatec bathlifts designed primarily for user safety and ease of operation, Bison is determined to remain an integral factor in the ABC's nominated suppliers' success.

This success north of the border has also created a new position in the Bison sales team.