Thorn

Press Release

Thorn Lighting announces the manufacture of outdoor luminaires in the UK

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Thorn announces its plans to manufacture two of its popular outdoor luminaires in their award-winning manufacturing site and head office in County Durham. Both Oracle S and Celest functional street lighting lanterns will be manufactured in the UK. The decision to bring them to Durham is driven by the need to be more customer-focussed and responsive to local market needs.

Paul Coggins, Managing Director at Thorn Lighting UK & Ireland said,
“In a climate where many UK lighting manufacturers are finding it hard to remain profitable producing luminaires in the UK, Thorn is confident that our manufacturing strategy will pay off. Durham is a plant that is both productive and profitable, and we know the quality measures are good here too. Bringing manufacture of local specification products to the UK market is great news for our outdoor customers.”

Thorn’s Durham site is a purpose-built lighting factory and is also home to the Thorn Academy of Light training facility. Opened in 2008, it won the UK Best Factory Award in 2009, produces 12,000 luminaires a day and has a quality record of <400ppm. Such is the level of investment in modern plant and equipment, that some of the production machines are even able to text the plant manager if they break down.

Terry Carmichael, Operations Director for Thorn Lighting said,
“We are pleased to take on the manufacture of these additional products here in the UK. We are already producing some of the best known Thorn products such as PopPack, Leopard LED and Chalice. The growth of outdoor lighting in the UK is vital to us as a business, and bringing Oracle S, which has recently been installed throughout County Durham and Celest, which is currently being installed throughout Scotland, to the Durham factory will only help us be more responsive to our customers in the UK.”