From blueprint to reality: 5 lessons from opening a new factory
It’s not every month or even every year that you get to open a new manufacturing facility.
Yet, in 2025 we did exactly that.
The decision to consolidate four sites into one mega facility meant that we were on a mission to find a brilliant space for our business operations. The old factory environments, where we had all spent most of our careers working in, weren’t going to cut it. Not for the TechPoint journey. Not for our staff. Not for modern British manufacturing.
And so, we set ourselves the goal of creating a factory of the future.
Focused on lean manufacturing principles, ESG commitments, digital integration, and our long-term growth strategy, we embarked on an exciting journey.
Six months on, we’re ready to share the top lessons learned, plus some opportunities and challenges we encountered along the way.
1. Think outside the box. Could a warehouse become a factory?
When we set out to look for a suitable site or existing manufacturing facility, our minds were focused on the established manufacturing hubs and existing industrial estates. We however, soon realised that those options weren’t fulfilling our needs and vision of the future. We started questioning whether we really needed to conform to the traditional factory model.
When looking at suitable buildings and sites we prioritised the following:
Proximity to existing facilities to retain workforces
Suitable building geometry for lean layout design
Energy efficiency rating aligned to ESG strategy
Capacity for solar installation, rainwater recycling, and EV charging
Adequate employee parking provision
Ability to operate shift patterns, weekend production and unrestricted logistics access
Capability to secure power upgrades if required
Four months later we landed on a suitable building; a newly built warehouse in Basingstoke! A supportive local authority with flexible planning frameworks meant that they were willing to approve building modifications, including additional windows. That is what we needed to continue with this option.
In summary, the warehouse-format building was selected due to:
Adaptability for internal reconfiguration
External space being sufficient for parking and logistics flow
High energy efficiency standards
Solar-ready infrastructure
Waste management and environmental controls were integrated into the building design rather than added retrospectively
Full shop-floor digitalisation capability
Key takeaway: While reconfiguring a warehouse into a factory environment, comes with its challenges, (like needing to create a lower suspended ceiling), it is possible and worth considering, due to the lack of modern manufacturing sites in the UK.
2. Power, power, power. You’re likely to need a lot of it.
Detailed modelling of future electrical demand was undertaken prior to our lease commitment, where we established that a grid power upgrade would be required. Planning approval and coordination with the electricity provider therefore became essential preconditions for signing the lease.
We were left with a situation where temporary generator solutions needed to be implemented to bridge the period to full power availability. We faced up to 9-month delays in legal and infrastructure approvals. In fact, we are still in the process of building the new power station to this day!
Key takeaway: Utility coordination and legal agreements can significantly extend timelines. Early engagement and contingency planning are essential. This becomes an important consideration when looking at business park environments and urban hubs.
3. Think big. Build in future capacity needs from the outset.
When you have 75,000 square feet to work with you have a playground like no other! Enhanced production flow design became a dream come true. Environmental containment and employee safety considerations could also be firmly embedded into layout decisions.
Our facility was designed around lean manufacturing principles with a defined production flow:
Goods In → Stores → Surface Mount → Assembly → Test → Packaging → Dispatch
The main objectives included:
Reduction of material handling waste
Improved production visibility
Logical sequencing of processes
Open-plan, structured workflows
In the end, given all the space we had to work with, we also constructed a mezzanine level, despite this not being immediately required.
We opted to avoid future operational disruption, reducing long-term retrofit cost and providing scalable expansion capability. This represented a trade-off between short-term capital expenditure and long-term flexibility.
Key takeaway: Carefully consider options for future proofing your capacity needs. When working out design layouts, look at ‘dead spaces’ that could work well for you in the future and consider investing in their build out from the outset.
4. Cease the opportunities. Make a real difference for your employees.
It goes without saying that many manufacturing operations worldwide have a reputation for being somewhat dated, dark and un-inspirational. The costs of refurbishing, modernising and injecting modern practices into some of the buildings may simply be too high.
Yet when you are transforming a warehouse structure into a production environment, there are quick wins that can make all the difference to your workforce, team morale and productivity.
At TechPoint we took the opportunity to involve employees early on, to get their ideas around work environments and best practices. We appointed external agencies to bring in new perspectives on modern workplace design. And we took a future view of what we wanted TechPoint to become: an innovative brand at the forefront of UK advanced electronics manufacturing.
With this in mind, we introduced the following aspects:
Natural light enhancements
Outdoor green spaces
Modern canteen facilities
Open-plan, flexible office areas
Communication displays throughout the facility
Key takeaway: There are many little things that can make all the difference to your workforces’ health, productivity and morale. Borrow practices from other industries and involve your teams from the outset to bring them on the journey.
5. Nothing is perfect from day one. Don’t lose sight of the journey.
Six months in, we haven’t in all honesty used all the spaces we created to their fullest potential. While the production floor is fully functioning and buzzing, some smaller spaces still have unpacked boxes in them. Others stand partially empty waiting for the right project or programme to kick off. But little by little we are settling into these spaces. There are two which are now being used daily and have masses of potential for the future.
The dedicated Lean Dojo space which was created to:
Facilitate continuous improvement projects
Enable structured training
Support cross-functional collaboration
The engineering-focused innovation centre which was created to:
Evaluate new manufacturing technologies
Test new processes and systems
Collaborate with customers on product design, design for manufacture / test and excellence
Support engineering creativity and experimentation
With most of our business being electronic manufacturing, it is wonderful to have the spaces to nurture innovation and continuous improvements. Our new building has given us the unique opportunity to do just that.
Key takeaway: Build your site with the future in mind. The skills and expertise within UK manufacturing shouldn’t be underestimated. All of us in the industry have an opportunity to innovate and to demonstrate what is possible, maybe not from day one but certainly into the future.
In summary, our new HQ in Basingstoke is a manufacturing facility designed to support operational and environmental efficiency, scalability, employee engagement, and long-term strategic growth.
Call it a basic blueprint for modern manufacturing environments in the UK.
If you’re embarking on a similar journey, consider site options that are non-conventional but also be practical about what that may mean for your timelines and infrastructure adaptations.
And finally, to quote Richard Branson ‘your people are your greatest asset’ - involve them, seek their ideas, consider their wellbeing and empower them to make a real difference to UK manufacturing today and into the future.