A major manufacturer has announced plans to invest more than £40m in its St Helen's site.
Knauf Insulation is aiming to increase the plant’s total capacity by about 30,000 tonnes per annum from late 2023/early 2024 and to acquire the large adjacent Pilkington Architectural site from NSG Group.
The investment will also include a larger furnace to support the increased capacity and improved fiberising technology to support a significant widening of the range to include new lower lambda and thicker insulation products.
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The money will also be spent on downstream equipment to cure and package the additional output and to support further enhancement of its product compression.
As a result of the investment, Knauf Insulation expects to see a c.20% improvement in the embodied carbon of products supplied from its St Helens plant.
The company has also agreed a deal in principle to acquire the adjacent Pilkington Architectural site from NSG Group for a multi-million pound sum, subject to contract, environmental and structural surveys.
The site covers around seven hectares in total and includes industrial buildings with a total floor space in excess of 180,000 sq ft.
Knauf Insulation is also investing in excess of £5m in packaging equipment at its Cwmbran plant.
Neil Hargreaves, managing director of Knauf Insulation Northern Europe, added: "This is an exciting development for our business and both our UK Glass Mineral Wool plants.
"These investments support the anticipated growth in demand driven by the Future Homes Standard and improved energy efficiency in new buildings as well as from more renovation of existing buildings.
"These developments are critical as we step up our efforts to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, climate change and energy security."
Dominique Bossan, CEO of Knauf Insulation EMEA, added: "As well as the additional capacity to support growth domestically and overseas, we’re excited to bring new lower lambda and thicker products to the UK&I market.
"This supports our objective to continually innovate and provide our customers with the best range of non-combustible insulation solutions across both Glass and Rock Mineral Wool technologies.
"All these investments will further reduce the embodied carbon of our products and the built environment in line with our sustainability strategy, for a better world."
