"It’s a cliché to say, perhaps, but what a difference a year makes," said an upbeat Pasquill managing director Stuart McKill. "The first four months of last year were as bad as the worst of the recession. But we’ve seen a turnaround in confidence in construction, in part thanks to the wider economic improvement, but also due to the Help to Buy and Funding for Lending schemes which have helped bring liquidity back to the market."
The result in the second half of the year, he said, was a "tsunami of orders", both for newbuild and RMI, and the need to gear up production, both to meet the quick response needs of the Pasquill merchant sales division, and the longer-term strategic requirements of its national housebuilder team.
"Its been a major exercise," said Mr McKill. "We’ve already reintroduced shift operations at our Redhill, Stoney Stanton and Chorley trussed rafter sites and Newport is not far behind."
Among the Pasquill success stories highlighted at the show from its integrated relationship with other Saint-Gobain businesses were its PasRoof prefabricated roof system, launched last year, incorporating insulation and thermal laminate from fellow group members Isover and British Gypsum to achieve a 0.16-0.12W/m²K U-value.
"We’ve got some nice projects under our belt for this," said Mr McKill.
Among the company’s other news was that its products now feature in the year-old Saint- Gobain Innovation Centre in London’s Great Portland Street, and the imminent launch of a new Sustainability Guide.
"Sustainability is such a key issue today, informing everything from product development and specification decisions, to PPQs, and we see it as our role to inform and educate the market on the sustainable performance of our business and products," said Mr McKill. "The guide covers the three key sustainability pillars: environmental, social and economic."
