Synthetic turf manufacturer SIS Pitches has invested £500,000 in its factory as it bids to win more contracts around the world.
The company has installed two more tufting machines at its factory in Maryport, Cumbria, to more than double its capacity to make elite sports surfaces.
SIS Pitches makes hybrid, synthetic and natural pitches for sports football, rugby, hockey, padel, Gaelic sports, tennis and cricket.
Existing clients include Celtic , Rangers, Saracens Rugby Club and Loughborough University.
Parent company SIS Group, which also includes specialist machinery and undersoil drainage divisions, has seen “controlled growth” over the last three years with turnover growing by an annualised 30% and staff levels growing 25%.
Last month it opened a new office in Warsaw to drive growth across Central Europe. It also opened a new office in Riyadh to coincide with SIS Pitches’ installation of the world’s first fully indoor hybrid pitch in just 21 days at the Saudi capital’s Kingdom Arena.
SIS Group has also seen growth in Georgia after securing a deal to install and maintain 11 hybrid pitches for the UEFA under-21 European Championships. It has installed padel court, baseball and equestrian surfaces in the United Arab Emirates, and bought turf farms in Saudi Arabia and Turkey to serve Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
The new machines in Maryport will make SISTurf, SIS’s synthetic pitch product used by sports teams, schools, colleges and universities worldwide.
The group has also made six senior appointments as part of its expansion drive. Dan Meredith joins as group marketing director, with Lucas Poen becoming operations director.
Simon Drury is taking on the role of sustainability manager, while Duncan Drury joins as head of IT. Dan Ramsdale has been recruited as SIS Project Manager, while Rafal Abel joins as the business development representative for Poland at the group’s new Warsaw office.
SIS Group chief executive George Mullan said: “We are committed to the development of exceptional playing surfaces using the latest materials and manufacturing techniques. Our latest investment will make us more efficient and is a signal of our intent to grow, just as we experience sustained interest from some of the most recognisable names in sport.
“But this is also a commitment to our future as a UK-based manufacturer. With these new machines, we will be able to complete more projects at home and abroad. This will have a real impact at both elite and grassroots level, giving people more opportunity to participate in their chosen sport.”
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