THE team at Russell Roof Tiles (RRT) in Lochmaben recently welcomed the founder’s daughter to the site.
Mary Colburn (nee Gibson) worked at the factory her father John Gibson founded in what was originally the Annandale Tile Company. She remembers the birth of roof tile manufacturing at the Halleaths site in 1965. The Gibsons were a family of master tilers and slaters, dating back to 1842.
Mary recently visited with her husband Paul, daughter Maria and son-in-law Glen.
Both Mary and Paul still follow the progress of Russell Roof Tiles and have become friends of the business, regularly keeping in contact with its team. They were having a few days holiday in Scotland and took the opportunity to visit the site. Mary and her family were given a tour, which is still at the same location as when her father started the business.
Operations director Bruce Laidlaw welcomed the guests and showed them around the facility. He said, “We were delighted to welcome Mary and her family back to Halleaths and to show them all around the site, explaining the recent developments and our plans for the future.”
Russell Roof Tiles has invested over £3 million in the last two years at its sites to increase efficiencies, with a new ridge tile plant becoming the latest investment. A £750,000 upgrade is currently taking place in Lochmaben.
The Dumfries site was the first UK factory to manufacture a thinner leading edge interlocking concrete roof tile, and it continues to develop new products seen on housing and commercial construction projects.
