Shackerley, manufacturer and prefabricator of ceramic granite ventilated cladding systems, welcomed the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson to its Chorley HQ and manufacturing facilities.
The Mayor was accompanied by Parliamentary Candidate for Chorley, Rob Loughenbury, who wanted to introduce Boris Johnson to a thriving and innovative Lancashire manufacturing company that was supporting the UK construction industry.
The visitors learned how Shackerley had developed the UK market for ceramic granite ventilated cladding systems throughout the noughties with its pioneering Sureclad system – winner of a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category, and today the clear market leader. CEO Brian Newell also shared with Boris Johnson his mission to forge new markets overseas for the cladding system, starting with the USA, Canada, Brazil and Central Europe, where he has already established trading platforms through alliances with overseas partners.
In the factory, the party saw how Shackerley has invested heavily in bespoke engineering facilities in order to transform exceptionally hard and strong large format ceramic granite slabs into fully prefabricated facade panels, ready to deliver to site for rapid installation onto a Sureclad support system.
Boris Johnson was interested to hear about the company’s heavy involvement with high profile construction projects, and naturally showed a particular interest in those in London. He was briefed on a raft of recently completed developments including the Hilton London Wembley and University Square Stratford, and congratulated Brian Newell and his team for securing contracts to supply several massive developments currently under way in the capital including Woodberry Down Estate, Kingston Heights and Kingston Riverside.
“What we see here is a spectacular achievement”, he commented, “The scale of the ambition is truly impressive. And, I’m really thrilled to see how new construction projects all across London are helping to drive the growth of and expansion of a great Lancashire business like this."
The Mayor was very surprised to discover that Shackerley was also a key supplier to London Underground (LU) and Network Rail, and has helped to make hundreds of Tube and overground rail stations safer for those with visual impairments with its ceramic granite All Weather Tactile Tiles.
These are designed to highlight potential hazards such as ramps, staircases and, critically, platform edges, and Mr Johnson commented, “Without these, we could not help blind and disabled people to navigate their way around our stations safely. It would be impossible to run our transport system.”
