Russell Roof Tiles welcomed inspection managers from the National House Building Council (NHBC) in an interactive, hands-on training session recently, helping address the UK’s house-building skills shortage.
Thirteen NHBC managers visited the Russell Roof Tiles’ Burton on Trent factory, as the team had a valuable opportunity to learn about roof tile fixing, accessories and site compliance. NHBC is the UK’s largest independent provider of warranty and insurance for new-build homes and has invested £100 million in a national network of 12 multi-skill training hubs. These facilities are set to train 3,000 apprentices each year in key trades such as bricklaying, groundworks and site carpentry.
The visit began with a tour of the production facility, observing how Russell Roof Tiles are manufactured, the quality control measures in place and new technologies. NHBC also gained practical experience at the firm’s new Training & Innovation Hub, where they had the chance to install products on custom-made pre-built rigs.
This was followed by a presentation from the Russell Roof Tiles’ expert in-house technical team, which provided a deeper overview of product testing and best practice installation methods. The session created a constructive environment for both sides to ask questions and engage on key topics relating to roof covering installations.
Nick Carey, Head of Inspection for the Central Region at NHBC, said: “It was helpful to understand how Russell Roof Tiles maintains consistency, traceability and quality across such a high-volume operation. During our visit, we experienced the full product journey, from manufacture, design and testing, through to installation on site.”
Mark Parsons, Technical Director at Russell Roof Tiles, said: “We are very pleased to have welcomed NHBC to our facility in Burton on Trent. It has been great to support them with skills training and provide both the technical deep dive and practical sessions for working with our range of tiles, fittings and accessories.”
This training builds on Russell Roof Tiles’ recent investment in skills training, marked by the opening of its first Training & Innovation Hub. The new £100,000 facility is a dedicated site for research and development, focusing on evaluating and refining the technical aspects of roofing solutions – a core factor in the company’s ongoing success.
The new hub houses the firm’s growing technical team, as well as functioning as an innovation centre for product development with six modular roof rigs units, with pitched and vertical options. The custom-made rigs enable course delegates to experience ‘hands-on’ practical sessions with Russell Roof Tiles’ range of tiles and fittings, along with dry fix accessories.
Russell Roof Tiles is a leading independent concrete roof tile manufacturer supplying products for national housebuilders and high-profile social housing and commercial projects. The company produces hundreds of thousands of tiles and related fittings and accessories every week that are used on pitched roofs across the UK.
