Saint-Gobain Abrasives UK has relocated its head office and distribution centre outside Stafford.

The new Saint-Gobain Abrasives building, named Unicorn House, is located on the Redhill Business Park, Staffordshire.

An event had been organised for the opening of the new building. which included an overview of the history of abrasives in Stafford, along with an update on Saint-Gobain Abrasives UK as a company, and a presentation on the impact the move will have on Stafford and the surrounding area.

Delegates were then shown around Unicorn House, which includes the company’s Centre of Excellence, testing and training facilities, the customer services department and a new distribution centre.

Adrian Hough, Country Manager for Saint-Gobain Abrasives UK, explained: “We hosted this event to thank our employees and key stakeholders for all their hard work and support in making this relocation such a huge success.

“We also wanted to showcase our new customer training facilities, for which we received a great deal of positive feedback. In particular, our brand-new Centre of Excellence and training provision allow us to conduct hands-on product training in a workshop environment, demonstrating best practices and helping to improve awareness on how to use abrasives safely.

“We are more than aware of the environmental impact of such a big move and we are fully committed to our sustainability goals. During our move, we ensured zero items went to landfill, through a combination of recycling materials and donating items where possible to charity.

“The location of Unicorn House was chosen with improved efficiency in mind, with one of the key benefits being simplified transport routes, which enables commercial traffic to be moved away from Stafford town centre to ease congestion and pollution.”

Staffordshire County Council’s Economic Growth Leader, Mark Winnington, said: “Saint-Gobain Abrasives is a long-established Staffordshire company which is providing employment for the local community at its Stafford and Eccleshall sites.

“We’re pleased it has relocated to the County Council-developed Redhill Business Park, which is now fully occupied. It will provide an ideal location for its new development, which will enable the company to build on its successes as it plans future growth.

Today, in the UK & Ireland, Saint-Gobain Abrasives has around 150 employees, across three sites.

The manufacturing plant in Eccleshall produces bonded abrasive products mainly serving the aerospace market.

The Staverton site near Cheltenham manufactures super abrasive products for applications where precision and performance are key, such as the medical, aerospace and automotive sectors.

Unicorn House will be at the heart of the business' UK operations, providing customer services, an extensive training area and the company’s main distribution centre that will hold UK stock, helping meet customer delivery expectations.