Specialist glass manufacturer Romag invests for the future

The near-£1m investment is part of a wider £2m programme that has allowed the firm to expand production at its factory in Leadgate, Consett, as well as take on 20 new members of staff (10% of its workforce). The bespoke funding deal was put together by the Newcastle-based Corporate & Institutional Banking team at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS CIB).

Specialising in solar photovoltaic, architectural, security and transport glass, Romag is seen as an expert in its industry and is trusted worldwide to provide high quality, UK-manufactured products meeting the needs of a diverse customer base. The firm has been in the North East since 1943 and a subsidiary of Sunderland-based conglomerate Gentoo Group since April of this year. Gentoo has been a customer of Royal Bank of Scotland for over 10 years; the Newcastle RBS CIB team became Romag's day-to-day corporate banking partner earlier this year.

Romag's latest investment involves a £815k facility from RBS' Lombard division to buy a hi-tech Japanese processing machine which will dramatically improve efficiencies and manufacturing capability at its factory. The aim is to supply ultra-high-quality products that the meet the demands of its global clients. Along with Lombard, a number of other RBS divisions helped facilitate the deal: RBS Global Transaction Services was used to provide advice on importing the machine from Japan while RBS CIB's foreign exchange unit helped with currency interchange.

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