British Gypsum - British gypsum opens £120-million plants
British Gypsum’s £120-million investment in
additional production capacity will be realised this
month with the opening of two of the world’s most
advanced plaster and plasterboard manufacturing plants.
The new plants comprise a plasterboard plant in Sherburn-in-Elmet,
near Leeds, and a plaster plant at the company’s East
Leake site in Leicestershire. Both have been completed
and commissioned on schedule.
The plants lead the global industry in terms of their
capabilities and design, and are already operating to
World Class Manufacturing standards. They are part of an
ongoing development programme to ensure British Gypsum
continues to meet the UK construction industry’s growing
demand for dry lining products, particularly those which
fulfil the increasingly stringent regulations regarding
acoustic, fire and thermal performance.
Mike Chaldecott, Managing Director of British Gypsum
said: “As the leading supplier of plasterboard and
gypsum plasters, we are committed to ongoing investment
in state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities that lead
the global market and enable us to support the UK
construction industry.
“Demand for plaster and plasterboard continues to
increase and it is essential that we have the production
capacity to satisfy this market growth. The new plants
in North Yorkshire and Leicestershire will enable us to
do this. They are already being hailed as examples of
best practice with regard to business planning, project
management and health and safety.”
The East Leake plant was opened this month by The Right
Honourable Kenneth Clarke QC MP. It will manufacture
British Gypsum’s ‘Thistle’ finishing plasters and
‘Gyproc Drywall Adhesive’ from high-grade natural gypsum
extracted and processed at the site’s existing mine,
which has undergone a £7-million redevelopment as part
of this project.
The Sherburn-in-Elmet plant was opened by the Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer of British Gypsum’s parent
company, Saint-Gobain. It will manufacture a full range
of plasterboard products.
Both sites were chosen by British Gypsum because of
their excellent logistics and proximity to raw material
sources, as well as their long-standing links with the
local communities and local availability of skilled
workers.
Demand for plaster and plasterboard has consistently
outperformed the general construction market, as a
result of the growing popularity of fast track dry
lining techniques and ongoing tightening of the
regulations covering acoustic performance in new
buildings. It is expected that this growth will
continue, with year-on-year demand for these products
predicted to grow by 4.5% per annum throughout 2007 and
2008.
British Gypsum employs 1450 people at five major
manufacturing sites throughout the UK.
Email:
paul.smith@bpb.com
Arundel Jones Associates Ltd
Hill Farm, Linton Hill, Maidstone, Kent ME17 4AL
Tel : 01622 745333
news@buildingdesign.co.uk
Registered in England and Wales No. 07334149
News Categories : Plaster, Plasterboard and
Drylining Systems
|
Plaster,
Plasterboard and Drylining Systems
