Aggregate Industries’ Masterblock business has invested £2 million into improving its block product operations at three of its factories across the country, in response to a steady increase in demand from the housing industry.
With the need for new homes in the UK increasing, and strict targets imposed on councils by the government, there has inevitably been a surge in housing activity over the last couple of years. This has led to an increase in demand for block products, and the investment in Masterblock will enable it to increase its production capabilities of lightweight and dense concrete blocks to help meet the demand.
The £2 million improvements were made at three of its factories: Croft Block Plant in Leicestershire, and its Torr and Callow Block Plants both in Somerset. At Croft, Masterblock’s largest factory, an ‘egg-laying’ operation has been added to create greater capacity to service the Midlands region. Whilst at Torr, the manufacturing area has been extended and two new machines purchased. Finally, at Callow, a state-of-the-art ‘Columbia’ static block plant has been installed. Imported from the U.S, this machine offers the most modern method of block making in the world and allows the team to produce high quality aggregate blocks in a variety of strengths and finishes.
Jeremy Lee, Sales Director for Building Products at Aggregate Industries, said: “There is currently great demand for blocks in the industry, which provides us with a real growth opportunity. We’ve readjusted our strategy to make block products a key focus for the Building Products division and this investment into improving our current operation will help us to fulfil our orders with greater efficiency – benefiting both us and the client.”
Masterblock is the UK’s leading block manufacturer, with factories across England, as far north as Newcastle, down to Plymouth in the south. Masterblock supplies aggregate concrete blocks for use in a variety of projects, including residential developments, educational buildings, major sports stadia, office and retail developments and other commercial buildings. The range is manufactured in a wide range of sizes, strengths and finishes. As well as supplying the product,Masterblock also offers an in-house technical team which can provide a u-value calculation service, to help take some of time and burden away from the customer.
