The British building materials Breedon Group that acquired Northern Ireland’s Lagan group in 2018 is investing £5 million (€6 million) to double capacity at a Lisburn tile plant to make concrete roof tiles.
Jude Lagan, who has continued to run the business on the island for Breedon, says it will bring capacity up to more than 22 million roof tiles annually, as the sector expands to feed demand from booming housebuilders.
Mr Lagan said the expanded production facility would be ready in mid- to late 2023.
“Once our new roof tile factory is commissioned, we will see a significant reduction of emissions from gas, electricity and oil. There will also be a substantial reduction in packaging per product tonne,” said Mr Lagan. Concrete products are considered to be significant sources of carbon emissions.
Largest transaction
The renamed Breedon Group in Ireland employs 300 staff in the Republic and about 250 in Northern Ireland. It acquired the Lagan group in a £455 million (€546 million) cash deal. It marked Breedon’s entry into the industry supplying building materials in Ireland, and was the largest transaction in the UK group’s history.
The genesis of Breedon’s deal with Lagan, whose Southern operations include a cement plant in Kinnegad in Westmeath, was in a joint venture in Scotland the two companies undertook two years earlier.
