The spend on roofing products increased by 20% between 1996 and 2002 and is predicted to rise another 16% between 2002 and 2006, according to AMA Research. AMA forecasts a total spend of £1.35bn for 2003. With the number of houses built falling since 1999, the increase is driven by home improvements, deteriorating weather conditions and higher value products. Tiles accounted for 44% of the sector in 2002, metal roofing rose to 34%, and membranes and felts accounted for 15%. Roofing suppliers continue to merge and acquire, creating large pan-European groups.
Marley Roofing Products has opened an £8m factory in Glasgow capable of producing 20 million roof tiles a year. The plant was opened by a local schoolgirl who won a competition to predict the future of the roofing industry.
Palgrave Brown, the biggest manufacturer of roof trusses in the UK, has spent nearly £1m in trebling its capacity to over 5,000 trusses a week. The company has moved its factory in Boston, Lincolnshire, to a purpose-built plant elsewhere in the town and invested in computerised saws, new presses and mechanical handling.
Howarth Timber Group has bought Marlows & Co, the Bury-St-Edmunds-based maker of roof trusses and timber frames. Of a similar size to Howarth’s northern-based timber engineering division, the new subsidiary will operate as Marlows Timber Engineering and spearhead Howarth’s expansion in East Anglia and the South East.
Backed by AIB Commercial Finance, Avonside Roofing’s MD Tony Burke and finance director Keith Kershaw have completed their management buy-out of the company. Avonside has 210 staff (10% of them apprentices), a turnover of £28m and 15 branches across the UK.
Standing seam roofing supplier Keybemo has expanded its management team with four new appointments: Beverley Norris is operations manager, Trevor Downs technical manager, Mick Lane national sales manager and John Charlton commercial manager.
Metsec has opened a new £4m factory at its Oldbury site in the West Midlands. The plant can roll-form both zed and C sections, increases capacity to an annual 40,000 tonnes of steel sections, and can be programmed directly from customers’ CAD files, reducing delivery lead times to a week.
Sandtoft has installed palletised packaging equipment at its two concrete tile plants. Each tile is carefully stacked before being packed on the pallet. The machinery controls how they are brought together to minimise chipping and surface marking.
No comments yet