Tobermore has announced that it will be investing £12 million to expand its operations to meet the growing demand for hard landscaping products driven by current and anticipated market growth.
To meet short-term demand for its paving range, the company has already increased night shifts. It will also be investing £8 million to build a new production facility at its manufacturing site in Tobermore, and a further £4 million in the creation of jobs.
Richard Wardle, Head of GB Merchant Sales at Tobermore, commented: “Merchants are preparing for considerable growth in the construction of new homes and infrastructure, and they want to be able to reassure their customers that they can get the stock needed to keep Britain building.
“This significant investment shows we are committed to our merchant customers and will have the right people, facilities, and equipment in place so we can meet both the immediate need for walling and hard landscaping products and the anticipated upsurge in the near future.”
The £8 million investment will see the construction of a new 3,000m2 factory able to produce over 1,000,000m2 paving blocks a year; increasing the company’s block paving production by 25%.
Trevor Smyth, Head of Manufacturing at Tobermore, explained: “We will be investing in the latest technology so our production lines will continue to be some of the fastest and most efficient not just in the UK but globally.
“This means that we will be able to produce stock extremely quickly, giving us the ability to fulfil orders even at short notice.”
Over the next few months, the company will also recruit 34 people to increase the technical and specification support for customers. They will be able to provide customers with a complete design and technical support service. It will also be filling 10 new roles in its commercial/business-to-business team, including two national Housebuilder Managers, as well as 11 new Specification Managers, who will be based across Great Britain.
Richard Wardle, Head of GB Merchant Sales, added: “By extending our design, technical, specification, and account teams, we will be able to provide merchants and their customers with the dedicated support they need for every stage of the customer journey.
“Our technical team is also on hand to support merchants with everything from permeable paving to the construction of mortarless structural walls.”
As well as recruiting new staff, the company has made 11 internal promotions. Anna McAleer, currently Head of Specification (National) & Commercial Sales (Ireland), and Lee Blackburn, Head of Commercial Sales (GB), will be promoted to Joint Heads of Strategic Growth in Britain.
This is just the latest investment in a series of expansion projects by Tobermore to support its ambitious growth plans. The company opened its £10 million production facility in 2020, expanding block paving production capacity, and its £8.6 million manufacturing unit in 2022 to increase production of paving slabs.
These two investments have enabled the company to scale up overall block paving production by approximately 25% and slab production by approximately 40% compared to this time five years ago.
