20 jobs to be created at new Coseley factory making pre-fab homes

The Mar Modular factory in Coseley will build for Mar City which has developments in the West Midlands, London and the South East.

It is already recruiting for at least 20 staff for the factory and Mar Modular is looking for people with experience in the building industry and unskilled staff who it will train.

Posts available include assembly workers, electricians and warehouse and maintenance staff.

Mar City says that the modular process – whereby sections of the homes are prefabricated then put together on site – will enable it to build homes three times faster than by existing building methods.

A spokesman for Mar City, John Bick, said it had not yet been confirmed where in Coseley the factory would be located but it would create more than 20 jobs.

The company recently announced that its pre-tax profit for 2014 was up by three times on 2013.

It has built up a land bank of around 5,000 plots which can provide in the region of five years supply with a gross development value of approximately £1 billion.

Mar City says there is increasing demand from housing associations and local authorities for new build homes with the Midlands and London markets continuing to benefit from the Government's Help to Buy scheme.

Last year Mar City launched its new modular-built apartments in London and modular-built houses in the Midlands.

It is in discussions with a number of parties about potential joint venture new build developments.

Mar City's current production capability with its exclusive manufacturing partner will allow the group to build up to 1,000 modular homes a year.

The factory will enable it to augment this production capacity.

Mar City is developing training programmes and introducing its own structured programme for apprentices.

Tony Ryan, chief executive of Mar City, said: "The last year has been transformational for Mar City as we successfully launched our new modular technology. We now have a strong pipeline where we are in discussions with a number of potential joint venture partners and we are also developing plans to increase our home building capacity through the development of our own production facilities. We have a strong land bank with in the region of five years supply with planning permission.

"During 2015 we see a larger proportion of Mar City new homes built using our modular technology, and as demand increases we will match our production capabilities alongside that growth."

The company is currently building homes at sites in Cranford Street, Smethwick; Alexandra Road, Tipton; Leamore, Walsall and Birmingham Road, Lichfield.

It plans to build more than 700 homes on the Eco Park site at Bean Road, Coseley and also has proposals for 248 at Hall Green Road, West Bromwich, 211 at Darkhouse Lane, Coseley and 38 at Mill Street, Great Bridge.

The company has been in talks with Dudley Council about the Coseley development which is on a shortlist of the 29 areas to become one of England's first 10 housing zones outside London.

They will receive lighter-touch planning regulation on brownfield sites to encourage the building of new housing.

Most housing zones are expected to be big enough for between 750 and 2,000 homes.

The Coseley housing zone would take in the Bean Road site and land at Budden Road and provide 820 homes in total.

Housing zones are an opportunity to unlock redundant brownfield land.

Coseley Eco Park is a site that was used for metal manufacturing from the early 19th Century.

Harper Sons and Bean, who lend their name to part of the Estate, operated large iron foundries on the site in the late 1800s and early 1900s employing a large skilled workforce.

During World War Two the site housed two metal foundries producing munitions for the war effort and later the foundries diversified to car manufacturing. The famous 'Bean' cars were produced here together with locally renowned Newey needles and pins.