Russell Roof Tiles has opened its first Training & Innovation Hub in Burton on Trent.
The leading pitched roof tile manufacturer has invested £100,000 in developing a brand-new facility, close to its previous training centre and close to its plastics and accessories manufacturing unit.
The new Training & Innovation Hub provides a site for research and development for the company’s new product development programme.
The new 3,418 sq ft space will house both Russell Roof Tiles expanded technical team. As well as an innovation hub for product development it features six modular roof rigs units, with pitched and vertical options.
The facility extends its first training facility, opened in 2016, which has been used to train both staff and customers in the full range of roofing products the company makes.
Training covers how the products are manufactured as well as how they should be correctly installed. Theoretical training in the classroom covers topics including product awareness, roofing systems, correct fixing, British Standards, regulations and roof estimating.
The new facility is headed up by technical director Mark Parsons, well-known within the roofing sector and advising leading national bodies such as the National Home Building Council (NHBC) and the Roof Tiles Association (RTA) on technical best practices.
As well as investing in the new site, Russell Roof Tiles is bringing its expanding central services team over from the firm’s other facility in the town on Nicolson Way, to make way for enhanced manufacturing as part of a £18.5m major site enhancement.
Andrew Hayward, managing director of Russell Roof Tiles, added: “This latest investment in the new facility supports our new product development as well as supporting our investment in providing expert tuition on installing all our latest products, both tiles and dry fixing systems. We’re delighted to be bringing our teams together on one expanded site.”
