With the business rapidly outgrowing Clifton, the Penrith Industrial Estate site became A.W. Jenkinson’s second facility in 1995. The Haweswater Road site has become one of the largest of the business’ vehicle storage and maintenance depots.
Originally the site consisted simply of an acre of concrete with a large storage shed in one corner. Today the location houses extensive offices, a weighbridge, fleet parking and wash facilities which have all been purpose-designed and built.
As A.W. Jenkinson’s huge bark processing business developed, storage and management for peat free compost, prior to bagging, became an important requirement. This prompted the first stage of development at Penrith with an additional one and a half acres being leveled and surfaced to accommodate peak volumes.
In recent years, with the rapid growth of the A.W. Jenkinson transport fleet, the storage allocation has reverted back to Clifton to accommodate weekend and evening parking for 130 trucks. A truck wash and goods vehicle garage employing a permanent staff of four, plus Volvo’s own specialist mechanics, has now been added to meet the needs of the Penrith fleet.
A baling line for wood shavings has also been installed at Penrith, together with the palletising and wrapping equipment required to service the farming and equestrian markets.
This area of activity on which the business was founded continues to grow in importance. Today A.W. Jenkinson is a leading supplier of wood flake and shavings nationally. More recently, a drier has also been installed to treat shavings manufactured at Clifton with excessive moisture content, an important step in further increasing the volume and quality of product leaving the site.
The Haweswater Road facility also houses A.W. Jenkinson’s Sales Distribution Division. This consists of a fleet of smaller 7.5 and 12 tonne vehicles which are used to deliver both palletised and bulk quantities of product to the surrounding region.
The site is also open to the public to collect bark, woodchips and sawdust for animal bedding, either bagged or loose in bulk.
