Danish VELUX Builds New Factory in Partizánske

On Thursday 13 March 2008 at 10 a.m., the ceremony of placing the first brick, the ground stone, in the construction of the new VELUX factory Partizanske Building Components – SK s.r.o. will take place on the construction site. The ceremony consists of a mix of local Slova-kian and Danish traditions. The Slovenian tradition of hammering on the ground stone will be preformed by the mayor of Partizánske, Jan Podmanicky, the managing director of Parti-zanske Building Components – SK s.r.o. (PBC-SK) Jorgen M. Laursen and vice president of VELUX A/S David P. Meyer. They will also perform the Danish tradition of breaking the ground and then the ground stone will be placed.

The factory in Partizánske is quite unique as this is the first time new production facilities are built by a major foreign investor in this area. The plan for the factory is to produce roof windows, but the VELUX product range also includes such products as decoration and sun screening, solar panels, and installation kits.

The new factory will be built on a 20 hectar site close to the town of Partizánske and is ex-pected to employ around 150–200 people at the end of 2009, most of them coming from the local area. If the market is favorable, the factory may be extended at a later stage. The production starts in 2009.

- We are looking very much forward to getting our new factory up and running. We value quality and we already have very positive experiences here in Slovakia. This year already, we have employed three staff members at PBC-SK and expect to employ 10 additional staff with experience in finance, HR, IT and special production knowledge. We have our own spe-cially designed training programmes and we will do out utmost to train our new colleages to work with our technologies and be part of a team with a common goal. The factory in Parti-zanske will be state-of-the art in terms of LEAN manufacturing, production technologies and not least a very environmentally sound factory with no harmful emissions. The factory will be certified in accordance with ISO 9001, 14001 and OHSAS 18001 and we have the neces-sary resources to implement such systems, says Jorgen M. Laursen, managing director of PBC-SK.

VELUX is one of the strongest brands in the global building materials sector and has been represented in Slovakia since the beginning of the 1990's.

The press is invited to attend the ceremony. After the ceremony, there will be a press con-ference with the mayor of Partizánske, Jan Podmanicky; the managing director of Partizan-ske Building Components – SK s.r.o. (PBC-SK) Jorgen M. Laursen; Managing Director of VELUX Slovensko, Eva Flassiková; vice president of VELUX A/S David P. Meyer and head of Communications VELUX A/S, Lone Ellersgaard

Facts
VELUX has signed the first agreement with PBC-SK (Partizanske Building Components-SK s.r.o.) and will build a new factory for producing VELUX products in Partizánske, Slovakia. It is part of VELUX existing plan (and strategy) both to develop the capacity of our existing factories and to establish new factories where it is relevant - in accordance with market de-mands.

The construction is starting in March 2008 of 34.000 m² new production buildings, on a site in the municipal district of Partizánske, Tren?in Region, Slovakia. The projecting company is AVK from Bratislava together with ELD from Poland. The tender procedure is finished and the general contractor is INGSTEEL.

VELUX has had a sales company in Slovakia since 1993 (1990 in Czech Republica).

About VELUX
VELUX creates better living environments with daylight and fresh air through the roof. Our product programme contains a wide range of roof windows and skylights, along with solutions for flat roofs. In addition, VELUX offers many types of decoration and sun screening, roller shutters, installation pro-ducts, products for remote control and thermal solar panels for installation in roofs. VELUX, which has manufacturing companies in 10 countries and sales companies in just under 40 countries, is one of the strongest brands in the global building materials sector and its products are sold in most parts of the world. The VELUX Group has around 9,500 employees and is owned by VKR Holding A/S. VKR Holding A/S is a limited company wholly owned by foundations and family. For more details, visit Visit www.velux.com.