Specialist building solutions firm increases spend by 80% in the past 12 months
A Northern Ireland based producer of high-value specialist building products is increasing its investment in Research and Development as part of a business development strategy throughout the UK and Ireland.
Fivemiletown headquartered, AG (formerly Acheson + Glover) confirmed today that its spend on Research and Development had grown by 80% in the past 12 months.
AG Chief Executive, Stephen Acheson, said he believed innovation and new product development were key sources of competitive advantage for the 60-year old firm.
“From our earliest days AG has been synonymous with innovation and the pioneering of new technology within the concrete industry. Now, more than ever, we see this as being of crucial strategic importance as we seek to strengthen partnerships across our customer base in the creation of walling, paving and facing brick solutions that truly add value for clients across the UK and Ireland.
“Innovation is one of our core company values and within the past 12 months we’ve had great success from several new product launches including our Long Stone paving and Woodward facing brick solutions, both of which have already established themselves as amongst our best sellers. We have also received UK-wide recognition for our Anchor® Vertica® Machine Install Segmental Retaining Wall system which has won a number of prestigious awards for both innovation and health and safety.”
As part of AG’s drive towards best-in-class innovation it has established a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Queens University Belfast. This has included the provision of a new Associate Engineer, Catherine Campbell, who is supported by a team of academics. As part of the increased focus on Research and Development AG has recently invested more than £0.5m in a new processing line at its Toome facility to produce surface protected flagstones.
Stephen Acheson said that the factory-sealing process will improve its flagstones in number of ways.
“The factory-sealing means our products will be of a higher quality and they will be easier to maintain once installed. This innovation, coupled with the plans we have for this year and beyond, will further reinforce our products as being amongst the best in Europe from both an aesthetic and performance perspective.
“We expect 2021 to be a big year for us in terms of product development, with a number of significant enhancements and additions being made to our portfolio of walling, paving and brick solutions that have been created to make construction better, faster and safer.”
