Employing 150 staff at three sites totalling 22 acres in Scotland and the Midlands, Russell Roof Tiles manufactures nearly one million roofing products per week and achieved revenue approaching £30 million in 2018.

The investment is part of the firm’s capital improvement plan to further enhance quality across the business, by utilising the latest innovations in manufacturing.

Part of the investment includes the installation of new technology to ensure increased traceability. Continuous inkjet printers at its sites in Burton and Lochmaben have been fitted. This equipment individually marks each pitched roof tile with a discrete specific identification code. This ensures full product traceability, enabling the manufacturer to provide detailed production details (batch, date) information quickly and easily for customers. 

In Lochmaben, Russell Roof Tiles has also invested in a new automatic strapper on its ridge production line. The machine provides robust end of line packaging, where uptime performance and operating efficiencies are critical.

The strap improves stability during transportation, while helping to provide protection to the ridges within the pack. This provides better protection for materials delivered to customers sites and also uses less packaging and is more sustainable.

Russell Roof Tiles was the first manufacturer in the sector to have achieved an excellent rating of BES 6001: Issue 3 – the BRE Framework for the Responsible Sourcing of Construction incorporating the need for energy efficiency.

Andrew Hayward, managing director at Russell Roof Tiles, said: “At Russell Roof Tiles, we know that it is important to provide quality and value for our customers at every turn. It was therefore important that we underwent a significant investment programme to modernise and upgrade our equipment.

“We have already noticed a vast improvement with the new technology and have received positive feedback from customers. With innovations in technology evolving every day, we will continue to invest in the latest equipment and technology to ensure we are always providing quality products and the highest level of customer service.

“Over the past five years, we have invested significantly in manufacturing processes to increase efficiencies and reduce environmental impact.”