Leading roof slates supplier, Cembrit Blunn, held an open day on the 19th June 2007 to mark the major refurbishment of the company’s depot in Bovey Tracey, Devon. During the day, roofing contractors, builders merchants and staff from Cembrit Blunn’s other areas visited the new facilities.

Speaking at the launch, David Bailey, Cembrit Blunn’s Sales Director said: “We are delighted to be here in the heart of the West Country and to be the first choice for supply of roof slates and advice on slate roofing in this vibrant construction area. To call this operation a depot is, I feel, an under-statement: it is the logistics hub for the area - a fantastic information resource with our comprehensive slate library where you can get up-to-date and accurate information on available slates. And of course, our new training facilities will, I am sure, be put to good use offering the a range of courses from the basic points on roofing, to the more technical and advanced levels.”

From the Bovey Tracey Depot, Cembrit Blunn can reach any part of the South West in four hours and it is particularly well placed for the major centres: Exeter, Plymouth, Truro and Torbay. The depot’s double frontage means it is straightforward to handle collections and the company is offering FREE DELIVERY for orders over the value of £500.

Expertise and Local Knowledge
It can often be difficult to identify a slate offered to an end-user or even a builders merchant.
 
Prospective purchasers need to make realistic comparisons in order to assess whether the price/quality mix is really value for money. This issue becomes even more important for extension projects or a development requiring matching existing roofs, as slate weathering characteristics vary considerably from quarry to quarry. Cembrit Blunn’s comprehensive library and expertise is available at the Bovey Tracey Depot – and it is free of charge! The company has created an informative slide show identifying the quarries with which it has relationships. Regional Sales Manager, Alan Pritchard explains: “We are in the enviable position of having a number of people at Cembrit Blunn with decades of experience as well as over 80 years of trading relationships with many of our quarries. In fact, with some of our quarries, we have dealt with them since the operation started. This gives us unique access to the best material, advance warning of supply or quality bottlenecks and allows us to offer an extremely reliable quality level on a very wide range of slates. This new library gives us the opportunity to demonstrate our available products and, at the same time, provide our customers and potential customers with technical information providing complete reassurance.”

Training: Essentials for Successful Slating
As a company, Cembrit Blunn recognises the value of training. Whether installing slates (as a self-builder or roofing contractor), selling them over the counter at a merchants, or designing roofs and choosing materials, hands-on experience of the material is a great advantage. To answer this need, Cembrit Blunn has devised four training courses, offered at three skills levels: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. The courses will be run by experienced and qualified personnel at the Bovey Tracey Depot’s training facilities, under a controlled environment and giving delegates the opportunity to practise in a safe and risk-free environment.

A training rig has been constructed to enable users to mark-up the roof, batten the slope, and install the slates. Bovey Tracey’s Training Manager Andy Jones has experience of all pitched roofing products, and crucially, he knows all the pitfalls! Says Andy, “Amazingly, 90% of the complaints we are called to inspect are the result of the simple essentials of roofing or handling slate not being considered. Issues such as not following codes of practise for storage, handling and marking up the roof before starting the job, over or under-nailing, not grading properly or incorrectly holing natural slate. Our training courses are designed to equip our customers and their staff with the skills to create great roofs, specify with confidence and develop from the jobbing builder into the true artisan.”

Courses Available Levels
Natural slate Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced
Fibre-cement slate Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced
Shingles Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced
Take-offs/estimates Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced

The open day was followed by an evening at Newton Abbot Races for Cembrit Blunn’s customers. Lucky race goers watched the ‘Cembrit Blunn Slates Steeplechase’ where Algernon swooped to victory past Vanilla Man who fell at the last fence. The evening provided the perfect thank you to Cembrit Blunn’s South West customers and an opportunity for them to meet the Bovey Tracey staff in more informal surroundings.

Ged Ferris, Marketing Manager, concludes: “Our desire is to combine specialised service with specialist knowledge to be the first choice for roof slate in the South West. To achieve this we have enhanced our already excellent logistic organisation with information, meeting facilities, training possibilities and this fabulous showroom demonstrating the huge range of products available. We believe no other supplier in the region offers such comprehensive support.

The Cembrit Blunn Slates Steeplechase was won by Algenon. Alan Pritchard, South West Regional Sales Manager, Cembrit Blunn, presents a trophy to the horse’s owner at Newton Abbot Races

Email: sales@cembritblunn.co.uk