Member Article

Russells is first in line

Pioneering roofing manufacturer Russell Roof Tiles has created an innovative new role at its Burton factory site as part of its investment in production.

With the objective of improving production line efficiencies and reducing down time, the new Line Technician role encompasses both maintenance and production.

Two new recruits have joined Russells as the first Line Technicians, they are Joshua Sudaby and Luke Gardener. Both are currently finishing their studies at Burton & South Derbyshire College, and will be starting at the company full time this summer.

Russells tile plant manufactures over 100,000 concrete roof tiles each day. Its tiles and accessories are used by the UK’s top house builders and high profile social housing and commercial projects, where sustainability and eco-credentials are of the utmost priority.

In response to continued growth and increased demand for its products, the company which was awarded Employer of the Year last year, has been on a recruitment drive over the past 18 months, to maximise production and so enable Russells to deliver its quality products for its increasing customer base.

The new roles are believed to be one of the first in the roofing industry and Bruce Laidlaw Production Director comments. “This new position is quite an innovation for us, providing a multi-skilled approach which is already widely used in other sectors but not roof tiles manufacturing.

“Top production lines in the automotive and aerospace Industries already successfully use multi-skilled operatives in their plants to improve efficiencies. The new recruits will be trained to a very high level internally as well as with external training from Burton & South Derbyshire College.”

Bruce Laidlaw added: “We’re delighted to welcome Luke and Joshua to Russells at such an exciting time for the business. We are expecting 2017 to continue to be a huge development year for the business and as a result we’re continuing to look for hard-working recruits keen grow with the company as it expands.”

Russells employs a team of 180 across its two factories in Burton and one in near Lockerbie in Scotland. The company manufactures a range of concrete roof tiles and fittings for the pitched roofing market, used on residential and commercial projects across the UK.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kathryn Greenwood .