Superglass completes £37m Stirling factory upgrade

Glass wool insulation maker Superglass has completed a £37m upgrade of its Stirling manufacturing plant.

The redevelopment includes a new 187-tonne furnace and curing oven, as well as cooling, cutting and milling equipment.

An automatic packing system has also been installed at the factory.

Superglass said the upgrade would double capacity at the Thistle Industrial Estate site to about 60,000 tonnes of insulation annually.

The redevelopment works were carried out while the original production area continued to operate to capacity.

The project was supported with a Scottish Enterprise grant of £477,000 in 2017.

Earlier this year, the company announced a return to profit, a year ahead of forecast, as revenue grew by 39% to £32.9m.

Superglass had got into financial difficulties before being bought by Russian-owned Technonicol in 2016.

Chief production officer Mark Atherton said: "Maintaining production to capacity during such major works is an exceptional feat of engineering and project management, and has helped us continue to grow and return to profit.

"We have been pleased to be able to work with a number of local engineering companies to deliver the project, which will have had a further beneficial effect on the local economy."

Technonicol chief executive for Western Europe and North America, Ken Munro, said the multi-million-pound investment was "a real vote of confidence in Scottish manufacturing and is a statement of intent regarding the long-term future of our Stirling operations".