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French manufacturing company Saint-Gobain Glass is investing £30m in its glass manufacturing factory in Eggborough, East Yorkshire. The project will represent the largest industrial investment in the UK by the Saint-Gobain Group since the Eggborough plant was built in 2000.
Insider Media reports that Saint-Gobain is to undertake a major construction programme to completely rebuild and install a new state-of-the-art float glass furnace, as well as several other upgrades to other areas of the factory.
The company said that the investment will help secure the long-term supply of high-quality and high-performance glass for the window and door markets, as well as the wider UK construction sector.
The project is due to be completed by late summer 2021, and the installation of the increased capacity furnace will replace the current furnace, which has reached the end of its design life. The existing furnace has manufactured a ‘ribbon of glass’ long enough to stretch the length of the UK from Lands End to John O’Groats more than 130 times.
The firm said the new furnace will use less energy and will help it to optimise manufacturing efficiency, increase production capacity, and enhance Saint-Gobain’s market-leading environmental and sustainability credentials.
Steve Severs, managing director at Saint-Gobain Glass, said: “This is a major milestone in the history of our business.
“It demonstrates our commitment to the long term future of glass manufacturing in the UK and our confidence in the wider construction industry. The new facility is designed to manufacture high-performance products developed in the UK to meet the specific needs of the UK window industry.”
He added that the project has been in development and planning for several years so that the continuity of supply for customers is ensured throughout the construction process. Saint-Gobain has a long history of glass making, stretching back over 350 years.
“This has involved a high level of stock build-up in advance and imports of glass from our Saint-Gobain sister plants in Europe which will help to fulfil orders throughout the process. I am grateful for everyone’s support and commitment and look forward to the official opening later in the year,” he said.
He explained that the firm has vast experience in the delivery of complex high-value engineering projects, which are supported by skilled in-house technical and engineering teams, and that all the project work will be deployed with strict measures to ensure it is delivered while maintaining COVID-19 compliance.
Preparation works at the site in Eggborough, to the east of Leeds in North Yorkshire, have been underway for several months, and a contractor village has been created to ensure the site is ready and prepared to receive the components and specialist equipment.
The project requires 250 contractor personnel from 30 companies from the UK and across Europe who will work to dismantle the existing furnace and build and commission the new one.
The components for the new furnace are already on site and include more than 7,000 tonnes of specialist ‘refractories’: the building blocks used in the construction of the furnace. Many of these refractories are manufactured by Saint-Gobain’s own manufacturing business.
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