A window-covering manufacturer founded above a butcher's shop in England more than five decades ago has picked Apopka for its first-ever operation on American soil. Louvolite has acquired a 55,390-square-foot facility at 102 Semoran Commerce Place, a $7.5 million capital investment that currently supports 15 jobs, with plans to grow that number to 50 in the coming years.
Why Louvolite Landed in Central Florida
The company has established its first U.S. operation in Orlando, according to the Orlando Economic Partnership, which says it began supporting Louvolite's U.S. expansion back in 2024 by providing potential sites and assisting with zoning and permitting. Louvolite CEO Gavin Gray described the milestone in stark terms: “Establishing our first U.S. operation is an important step in Louvolite's growth journey,” he said, adding that Orlando gives the company “a platform to support customers, strengthen market relationships and invest in North American development.”
Louvolite is a global manufacturer of window-covering components, fabrics and shutters, and it says it is committed to the U.S. market. The company plans to use its new Apopka facility as a base to support its American customer network and expand across North America, leaning on what it describes as an ideal location, strong transport connections and favorable business environment for serving customers nationwide.
A Vertically Integrated Operation
Louvolite controls every stage of production in-house, from tooling design and component manufacturing through fabric development and finishing. The company also manages its own engineering, research, product development and testing, and it supplies trade professionals across multiple global markets.
That same structure now extends to Orlando. The company's own history, posted on its Australian site, notes that “2025 saw the opening of our first American depot in Apopka, Florida.”
From a Butcher's Shop to Four Continents
Louvolite's roots trace back to 1969, when Reginald Allsopp opened a vertical-blind business in a small space above a butcher's shop in Marple, Cheshire, in Stockport, England. The company entered international markets in the 1970s and today maintains an export division in the United Kingdom along with operations in Canada and Australia, giving it a footprint that now spans the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the United States.
Orlando Economic Partnership President and CEO Tim Giuliani framed the arrival as proof of the region's pull for companies crossing the Atlantic for the first time. “Louvolite's decision demonstrates our region's ability to help launch international companies into the American market,” Giuliani said, noting that U.S.-bound companies need a location that connects them to customers, talent and opportunity.
Part of a Broader Pattern of U.K. Investment
Louvolite's move fits a pattern the Orlando Economic Partnership has tracked for years. The Orlando region attracted $1.2 billion in capital investment over the last decade, according to the partnership's Global Orlando report. The United Kingdom is the region's leading source of foreign direct investment, the report found.
Louvolite is not the only overseas manufacturer to recently expand in the region. Hernon Manufacturing, which relocated to the Orlando area from New York in 1990 before expanding into a facility on Tech Drive in Seminole County, invested $2.8 million in a new facility in Sanford, according to the Orlando Economic Partnership. That company makes adhesives, sealants and precision-application equipment for industries including aerospace, medical devices, electronics and automotive manufacturing, and it said the new Sanford space would let it expand production of dispensing systems and UV curing equipment.
For now, Louvolite's Apopka facility stands as the latest marker of that international pipeline — a company that started as a vertical-blind workshop in Cheshire now betting its American future on a stretch of Semoran Commerce Place.
