Here's a press release we prepared for Shropshire construction company
Cornbrook Construction about a tie-up with another Shropshire firm
Quad-Lock. It was used as the
business supplement lead by the Shropshire Star and several other publications.
Part of its appeal, I think, is the strong picture. Strong news media photography always helps when pitching a news story. I took the picture myself, saving the client the significant cost of hiring a dedicated photographer. Another benefit of PR from matm!
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Cornbrook Construction is hoping to create new construction jobs in Shropshire by teaming up with design and engineering firm Quad-Lock to build the UK’s most energy-efficient homes.
The innovative building system developed by Quad-Lock is known as Insulating Concrete Formwork (ICF), and involves creating hollow walls made from polystyrene, which are then filled with liquid concrete.
Cornbrook Construction, based in Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, is already project managing the construction of a £2 million luxury home in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, using the system, and is in line to be the main contractor on future build projects.
The company’s managing director, Matt Breakwell, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for us. The system Quad-Lock has developed has immense qualities and, in my view, represents the future of building design and construction. The potential is huge.
“We already have the largest directly employed labour force of any construction company in South Shropshire – and if this partnership develops as we hope it will, we will be creating a significant number of new jobs in the next 12 months.”
Quad-Lock’s logistics operation has just moved to new, larger industrial premises in Shifnal, Shropshire, as it plans for expansion after distribution rights for the building system were awarded, in 2011, to the Charcon Construction Solutions Group, a joint venture with construction materials giant Aggregate Industries.
Charcon Distribution and Product Development Manager Peter Townend said: “We are pleased to be working with Cornbrook Construction at a time when we are seeing interest in ICF grow rapidly, largely due to the critical requirement, in the current economic climate, to control build times and manage costs.”
“On top of that, our system delivers industry-leading insulation performance, to the point that, to all intents and purposes, some finished buildings can be heated sufficiently simply through heat radiated by their occupants and electrical appliances.
“Cornbrook Construction had demonstrated that it has the particular skills, experience and the right attitude to innovation to embrace the opportunities our system creates. We expect them to be excellent partners as the technique is adopted by many more clients.”
Matt Breakwell said he expects Quad-Lock’s system to be particularly attractive to the self-build homes market across the Midlands. Last year, the Government launched a £30m three-year fund to boost the self-build market.
He added: “Only about 10 per cent of new-built homes are self-built. But the Government wants to double that proportion to 20% in the next decade as part of its plans to help the construction industry out of recession and encourage local, sustainable development.
“A key consideration for people wanting to design and build their own homes is the control of costs, speed of construction and the energy efficiency of the final building. In all these cases, Quad-Lock’s ICF system offers major advantages.”
According to Homebuilding and Renovation magazine, in 2012: 11,160 self-build homes were completed in the UK; just under one third of all new detached homes were self-build; and spend on construction materials in the self-build sector was £2.95 billion.