The British Farming Family owned company has made a major investment in acquiring their Italian supplier, creating an unrivalled combined manufacturer and distributor – ‘Briarwood Landini’.

Briarwood is well established as the UK’s leading supplier of Fibre Cement Sheets. For decades, they have worked in partnership with their Italian manufacturer, Landini s.p.A to develop an innovative combination of materials to produce a fibre cement sheet, EUROSIX, that is specifically designed for the British market Acquisition of the entire Landini production facility, and a 140-strong workforce, was a natural progression for the growing company. Now with three fibre cement production lines, two Metal roll-forming lines and three dedicated paint lines, the consolidated product range of Briarwood not only excels in providing complete roofing solutions, but now offers the addition of chimney systems, rainwater treatment and complementary building products.

This is a momentous step for Briarwood, offering unprecedented control over both manufacture and distribution which enables them to deliver the best value in the market.

“This opportunity couldn’t have presented at a better time for Briarwood. Operating our own factory seemed like the obvious next step for us. Now we have complete control over the entire production and supply process, ensuring we can provide the most time and cost-efficient solution to our customers.” – Oliver Janes, Briarwood

Founded over 65 years ago, Landini s.p.A has developed and produced industry-leading fibre cement products for agricultural and industrial construction applications. After decades of partnership with Briarwood, they are certain this is the best decision for the future of the production facility.

“We feel confident that Landini will be in good hands with Oliver and the Briarwood Team. We are fortunate to have enjoyed a close relationship with the Briarwood Family and we feel rest assured that the fibre cement production will continue to be actively customer-focused and innovative. With the additional benefits of dealing with an experienced manufacturer who is also an industry-leading roofing solutions provider.” – Marisa Mattace, Landini

The core ethos of Briarwood Landini is to provide a seamless supply chain of the finest roofing systems and building products for the agricultural, industrial and domestic sectors – direct to clients from the factory floor.

The Brand will remain as Briarwood in the UK and Ireland and will be rebranded Landini Briarwood overseas.

You can download the full press release here.

The Rural and Industrial Design and Building Association (RIDBA) is holding a Members’ Meeting with a focus on CE Marking compliance and the latest Health and Safety concerns for the sector, and it is shaping up into an event that is not to be missed.

The meeting will be held at Moor Hall Hotel & Spa in Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham on Wednesday 16 October 2019. The seminar will inform guests on the importance of CE Marking enforcement, and with the current uncertainty surrounding Brexit, the impact that leaving the EU will have on compliance. Guests will also be given an introduction to the UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark. To provide insight on the topic, we have a number of technical speakers including: RIDBA’s Technical Consultant, Martin Heywood; BM Trada’s Principal Technical Officer, Niresh Somlie; and Principal Trading Standards Officer at Dorset Trading Standards, Martin Thursby.

According to the latest report from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), construction and agriculture reported the highest number of work fatalities last year, so RIDBA is trying to keep members up to date on some of the most dangerous Health and Safety issues in the sector, including working from height, and mild weld fume control. RIDBA has a great range of speakers covering these important Health and Safety topics, including HSE Inspector, Sarah Palfreyman, Hire and Construction Division Manager of Makita UK, Charles Shaw and Managing Director of PASMA, Peter Bennett OBE.

The Members’ Meeting will also feature a small exhibition, is free to attend and those companies outside of RIDBA membership can learn more about the wide-ranging support RIDBA offers its members.

To book your place or to sponsor the event, please contact [email protected].

Download full press release here.

The third edition of The Farm Buildings Handbook has now been released.

The Farm Buildings Handbook is published by the Rural & Industrial Design & Building Association (RIDBA) and is an invaluable information source for anyone involved in farm construction.

The third edition of the Handbook supersedes the second edition published in February 2013. The latest edition includes updates and additional items, in order to better reflect current best practice and changes in technology.

We recommend this book to farmers, estate managers, contractors, designers and anyone involved in agricultural construction who may not have the complete knowledge of the requirements involved, for example, how much space to allow livestock and how much waste stock produces. The book offers the reader a range of relevant information and data that can be used to help plan, design and potentially specify a new farm building or facility.

The latest edition of the Farm Buildings Handbook covers all aspects of farm construction, from planning through to fit-out of all types of buildings, with sections including: legislation and regulations, construction technology, buildings for livestock, storage and machinery, as well as other areas for diversification. The book aims to be a guide for what needs to be considered when planning a farm building from asbestos and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM) to energy supplies and slurry storage.

RIDBA would like to acknowledge the original contributors of The Farm Buildings Handbook, along with Jamie Robertson (Livestock Management Systems Ltd) and Mike Bennett (Bennett & Co. (Crop Storage Engineering) Ltd) for their contribution to the latest edition. RIDBA also extends its thanks to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), whose contribution has been invaluable.

Copies of The Farm Buildings Handbook can be purchased on the RIDBA website for £14.99 (plus postage).

You can download the full press release here.

The Rural and Industrial Design and Building Association (RIDBA) hosted the 2019 RIDBA Building Awards at the De Vere East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham on Friday 15 March.

TV Personality, Lucy Cooke, hosted the glittering awards and over £1,000 was raised for Comic Relief.

The 2019 finalists have showcased innovative and revolutionised work that has been recognised within the industrial and agricultural building industry. The Overall Winner prize was awarded to M D Anthony Ltd for their work on The Dojima Sake Brewery in Fordham, a project recognised for its remarkable design and extreme attention to detail, paying tribute to the buildings purpose and culture. Haston Reynolds were also Highly Commended for their Centre for Dairy Science Innovation, University of Nottingham due to its impressive and well-structured building.

The winner of the training award was Shufflebottom Ltd for their dedication to achieving their strategic objective of continuously improving their training provision to ensure it is high quality, effective and efficient.

RIDBA Chairman, Mike Hammond said:

“It has been a pleasure to be RIDBA Chairman during this fantastic work, and yet again the RIDBAÂ Building Awards showcase excellence in our trade.

Congratulations to RIDBA Building Awards 2019 Overall Winner, the Dojima Sake Brewery. The project showed how M D Anthony Ltd balanced the challenging planning and design issued of a Grade II listed building with delivering a culturally appropriate building — a real testament to expertise, creativity and aesthetics.

Finally, I would like to thank all of our sponsors, without their support, these awards would not have been possible.”

The RIDBA Building Awards 2019 were sponsored by Joseph Ash Galvanizing, Kingspan, AJN Steelstock, Eternit, Steadmans and Farming Monthly as RIDBA’s media partner.

Download the press release here.