Wienerberger has hosted an event at the Tower of London to celebrate the recent acquisition of Keymer. The roof tile brand, which has supplied English, handmade clay roof tiles to specifiers, architects and roofers across the UK since 1588, was acquired by Wienerberger in late 2014.
The celebration, which was attended by delegates from the worlds of specification, architecture and construction, involved an update from various individuals from within Wienerberger and a keynote speech from architect Maxwell Hutchinson. The speech focused on the importance of modern custodianship of historic buildings and the role of manufacturers such as Keymer in the preservation of historic buildings.
Annette Forster, director of marketing at Wienerberger, said: “We were delighted by the success of our celebration at The Tower of London. Keymer is a high quality British brand that needs maintaining and supporting and it was great to be able to present our passion for the brand to our guests. What’s more, we’re very grateful to Maxwell for his speech which highlighted the importance of Keymer within the current world of preservation and architectural best practice.”
During the celebration, Ian Martinson, production team leader at Wienerberger, showcased the skills and artistic talents still nurtured at Keymer by creating, from scratch, a clay ‘Beefeater’. The sculpture, which featured fine details including the royal insignia found on the guards’ uniforms, has been placed in a competition, which guests were able to enter by handing over a feedback form.
Chris Wood from Historic England attended and said: “The event was very good and I was pleased to hear about the future of Keymer.” He was joined by Nigel Appleton of Ashford Hill Roofing who said: “It was a super day. There were good speakers and good angle on the product. I’ve used Keymer for years and I’m glad to see its extended life.”
Wienerberger says while it continues to develop new ways to manufacture construction materials, Keymer’s identity, and reputation for traditional manufacturing techniques will be robustly maintained. From its new home at Wienerberger’s Ewhurst factory in Surrey, Keymer will be continuing to manufacture the same high quality tiles it has since the golden age of Queen Elizabeth.
The company added that the future of Keymer is further secured due to access to a quarry that still holds reserves of Weald clay, which, at current production rates, will last for well over 200 years, providing the largest clay deposit in Europe for the manufacture of the tiles. In addition, the heritage and quality of the tiles will remain the same by using the same processes and, in some cases, the same equipment as have been used over the past 100 years.
