Prime Minister visits Burnley’s VEKA plc

VEKA plc, the global leader in the development of PVCu window systems, and one of Burnley’s largest employers, today welcomed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to their site.

Accompanied by Burnley MP Antony Higginbotham, Mr Sunak spoke to employees who will benefit from the National Insurance cut that came in to effect this weekend. On Saturday, the main rate of employee National Insurance was cut by two percentage points, from 12% to 10%, which for a person earning a salary of £35,000, equates to an extra £450 in their pocket each year. This tax cut will benefit a huge 27 million people in the UK and was positive news to many members of VEKA plc staff.

Burnley MP Antony Higginbotham commented on the visit, “When people think of Burnley and business, they think of manufacturing. So, when it came to bringing the Prime Minister up to our neck of the woods, VEKA was my first port of call.” He continued, “It was brilliant for him to see first-hand the work done in Burnley by VEKA’S skilled technicians, which is then sent all over the country. We should never tire of shouting loudly about what we make and do locally, and for me this was another part of doing just that.”

The Prime Minister met with the VEKA Board of Directors to discuss the growth of UK Manufacturing and the role that VEKA plays. He then took a tour of the factory meeting members of the Extrusion, Maintenance and Quality Lab teams. An explanation of VEKA’s extrusion process followed by a demonstration of VEKA’s stringent quality testing and discussion about the positive use of their virgin and recycled compound in windows provided the Prime Minister a whistle stop tour of the award-winning business.

VEKA Managing Director Neil Evans said, “We were thrilled to host the British Prime Minister and have a chance to share what we do and how we do it as well as talk about the industry we operate in and the drivers of our growth. It was great to be able to introduce him to some of our people that make VEKA the business it is today.”