Mobility firm seeks Chadderton return

FORCED to leave Chadderton in order to expand his business, Wayne Marland is actively seeking ways of returning to the area where he set up Chadderton Mobility five years ago.

This will be a further expansion for engineer Wayne (37), from Derker, who turned to the world of mobility aids after 21 years with the family lift and crane business.

Seeking new horizons and a fresh challenge, he invested £5,000 in half a container of mobility products from China and has never looked back.

Utilising his engineering skills, Wayne, supported by his wife Lana, set up in Peel Street, Chadderton, repairing wheelchairs and scooters.

“We outgrew the premises and needed somewhere with a larger workshop,” said Wayne, from his new premises in Milnrow Road, Shaw, where an extensive showroom fronts his busy workshop.

The move saw Chadderton Mobility triple its floorspace, a pre-requisite given the success of the business but Wayne and Lana hanker for a return to their roots.

“We tried everything we could to stay in Chadderton, but in the end there was nowhere large enough, in the right area and affordable,” said Wayne.

“I am actively looking again and I am hopeful that we can open a second branch, back in Chadderton, within 12 months.”

He has ambitious plans for the business and can see a day when Chadderton Mobility will have a string of branches, underpinned by engineers undertaking repairs.

Wayne added: “We repair and service all mobility equipment. This has been a major area of growth and though sales are now running at around 50-50 in turnover terms, there is no doubt that in the present economic climate people are looking to get more life out of existing equipment and will repair rather than replace.”

On the retail side, Chadderton Mobility can offer an extensive range of stock and, thanks to his wife Lana’s experience in the care home industry — in which she still works part-time — the business can offer hands-on advice on a range of aids and supports.

The client base is mainly from Greater Manchester but Chadderton Mobility has regular customers from Scotland, Lincolnshire and London and through a nationwide dealership network can offer repair facilities to customers all over the country.

“This is a major help for people on holiday who know they can travel with the reassurance they will be looked after wherever they are,” Wayne said.