THE luxury lodge manufacturer Reiver Lodges has been taken over by the residential and holiday park operator Richmond Wight Estates.

Reiver is based at Harker, Carlisle, where it has a showroom. It also has a workshop at nearby Rockcliffe.

It is set to double staff and expand production following the takeover.

Its new owner operates three parks in Scotland, where it has made use of Reiver's lodges, and is involved in property and leisure development sites in Dumfries and Galloway.

The firm has backing from HSBC to fund the expansion, which will see 50 staff join the existing 50 employees and annual production increase from 60 units to about 200.

Richmond Wight also plans to improve Reiver’s sales and marketing strategies and attend major UK trade shows to secure orders.

Chek Whyte, managing director of Richmond Wight, said: “Reiver Lodges has an excellent name in the industry, and is a long established brand which stands for real quality.

"We have been happy to buy Reiver lodges for our own parks for some time now, where they are used both for the holiday lettings sector and for our semi retired over-55 customers who can buy them as fully furnished residential homes.”

Moffat-based Manse Interiors, which Richmond Wight has employed on other projects, will be used to upgrade the interior specifications of Reiver lodges.

Mr Wight wants to introduce green initiatives such as district heating and solar heat pumps, and also enable the lodges to meet new guidelines for mortgages.

“We are delighted to acquire the firm, which will be an important additional to our overall portfolio.” he added.

“Due to our extensive knowledge in the parks sector, coupled with our new development arm which is busy acquiring properties for housing and luxury leisure use, we feel that we have the necessary skills and backing to secure Reiver’s long-term future and bring the business to another level.

“Effectively, this acquisition means we have our own supply chain of lodges and can expand the number of parks we operate as well as ensure successful trade sales of lodges to other park home and leisure operators.”