Huddersfield's Fired Up Group buys Corby trouser press firm

May 14 2009 by Henryk Zientek, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Mr Kaye said: “We have the manufacturing capacity and supply chain, but until this acquisition we didn’t have the recognised brand to open doors into the hotels and hospitality sector.

“The day I completed the takeover, Corby had won a new contract for a hotel development in Saudi Arabia, which indicates the potential for the business.

“One of my first jobs will be to visit Corby’s distributors overseas to promote the Fired Up product range.”

Mr Kaye said the enlarged company was targeting export markets, but said it also hoped to exploit opportunities closer to home.

“The UK economy is clearly struggling at he moment,” he said.

“But by 2010 we expect to see a programme of hotel building and refurbishment in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics and that will present us with some good opportunities.

John Corby Ltd was formed in 1930 in Windsor as a manufacturer of valet stands before developing the well-known trouser press.

The electrically-heated trouser press was introduced in the 1960s before becoming part of Jourden plc in 1977.