Briarwood customers reach dizzy heights

Briarwood Products’ 2009 campaign of visits to Italy to see the factory where its fibre cement roofing and cladding sheets are made has kicked off with a delegation from the Rural and Industrial Building and Design Association (RIDBA).

RIDBA council members Tony Hutchinson (secretary), Adam Minshall (vice-chairman) and Antony Lowther (immediate past chairman) were joined by Briarwood customers Roger Carpenter and Ken Bedford of Michael Thorne Construction and Briarwood’s sales and marketing manager Tony Fannon on the specialist supplier’s private jet.

After the two-hour flight from Bristol Filton airport to Palma, the party was shown around the 200,000m² state-of-the-art Landini factory by president Mirco Landini himself since he, like Briarwood’s managing director Alan Janes, is very active in the business.

The factory tour included sight of the production line for Meadowscape, Briarwood’s sheet range with a top pigmented layer which blends into the landscape better than a traditional gloss paint finish, and was followed by a [typically long] Italian lunch and a question and answer session before the flight home.

Briarwood managing director Alan Janes said: "I have had the pleasure of working closely with Mr Landini for many years, ensuring the quality of the fibre cement supplied and used for the manufacture of our products is second to none.

"We share a deep commitment to the industry which is reflected in our respective premises, and our visits to the Landini factory have never failed to greatly impress with the size and efficiency of the whole operation."

Briarwood customers interested in visiting the Landini factory should contact Tony Fannon for details of the next available trip.

ENDS

Pictured from left: Briarwood customers Ken Bedford and Roger Carpenter, RIDBA’s Antony Lowther, Adam Minshall and Tony Hutchinson, Landini’s Barbara Artoni and Mirco Landini, Briarwood’s Tony Fannon, and Landini’s Paulo Guidetti.