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[September 2009]
British Tile Producer Bucks Trend With £30 Million Investment
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal officially opened the new British Ceramic Tile (BCT) factory on 18 September 2009. This facility, which has been built over the last two years at a cost of £30 million, uses the most modern tile manufacturing equipment available. Situated next to the world famous Devon ball clays in Newton Abbot, it will, according to the company, be a cost leader in its industry and capable of competing with imports from anywhere around the world including Italy and Spain.
The factory now has the capacity to produce 7 million m2 of tiles a year, which will be further extended to 10 million m2 by the end of 2010 and will ensure that BCT meets its target of a 25% share of the UK tile market. The factory is operating under the ISO 9001 (2008) and ISO 14001 standards which underline the company's commitment to both quality and environmental sustainability.
Executive Chairman, Konrad Goess-Saurau, commented: “Factories like this which can compete in world markets and can link British design to British products, will secure British jobs for the future. Companies like ours are founded by shareholders who are prepared to invest for the long term. Shareholders who are prepared not only to develop new markets, but more importantly support companies so they can develop and train staff and be in a position to compete internationally with world-leading products.
“We comply with European environmental, health & safety and employment legislation and it is up to our politicians to protect our markets from Far Eastern manufacturers who gain unfair cost advantages by ignoring these fundamental considerations.”
BCT produces over 20,000 square metres of wall tiles every day using locally sourced raw materials. Its world class factory in Devon operates seven days a week, 24 hours per day.
The integrated design and manufacturing facility allows for rapid implementation of new designs with the emphasis on the best of British design. BCT supplies to major multiples, national house developers and directly to the trade, including independent tile retail outlets, contractors and specifiers.
The company is committed to sustainability and reducing its impact on the environment. It sources its raw materials locally and recycles everything where possible, including rainwater, back into the production process. Its efforts earned it ISO 14001 accreditation in December 2008.
BCT was awarded the Millennium Business Award for Leadership and is the only company to have won the Tile Association’s ‘Wall Tile of the Year’ award three times (2005, 2006 and 2009). The company has also been the Retail and Contract Floors Reader’s Choice for Ceramic Tiles in both 2006 and 2007. More recently in October 2008 it won the Chartered Institute of Supply Chain Management award for ‘Best purchasing initiative by a smaller organisation’.
ENDS