A Dumfriesshire business is creating ten new jobs and making a £1.7m investment in the region.
Lochmaben-based Russell Roof Tiles said the economic boost – despite the pandemic – is due to it starting 2021 with “a strong order book”.
Work is about to start on a major upgrade to its utility plant on the 11-acre site at Hallheaths and is scheduled to be completed by Easter.
It will utilise the latest innovations in manufacturing and increase the capacity of its production line of roofing tiles to meet growing demand.
Andrew Hayward, managing director at Russell Roof Tiles – which currently employs 56 people in Lochmaben and another 150 at its sister site in Burton-on-Trent – said the £1.7m will be spent replacing a building that will house a new packing system and the firm’s first robotic packer.
It will fund a full electrical upgrade and introduce mechanical improvements across key machinery.
This investment follows on from new moulds purchased for the Lochmaben production line back in 2019 and 2020, as well as £70,000 investment in new staff welfare facilities and an upgrade and modernisation of its aluminium third-round ridge manufacturing equipment.
Mr Hayward said that its “dynamic response” to Covid-19 has meant that the company has started 2021 with “a strong order book, allowing it to make this massive investment”.
He said that the company was one of the first in its sector to resume manufacturing last year enabling it to meet “pent up demand”.
Despite ceasing production when the first national lockdown was announced in March, the business was quickly able to restart production at all of its three sites in May.
This, he said, meant that the firm has been able to “maintain good lead times and fulfil a growing order book, as construction bounced back”.
He said: “Over the past five years, we have invested significantly in new plant and equipment at all of our three sites to both increase manufacturing efficiencies and reduce our environmental impact.”
Details on the jobs for potential applicants are now available online at: https://www.russellrooftiles.com/careers/production-engineering/
