Blog - December 2017

21 Dec

Winter is one of the most dangerous times of year, especially for builders and construction workers.

During the winter months, it is darker for longer and the weather changes to colder temperatures. We also often see lots of snow, ice and rain. This means the chance of slipping and falling…

9 Nov

Applications for The UK Roofing Awards 2018 are now open! These are an industry-wide event, that aim to find the best in the business and “reward outstanding standards of workmanship and safety within the roofing industry.”

The Awards, which are hosted by…

16 Oct

JRC Slate is coming to Merseyside!

November 13^th-14^th sees the National Buying Group’s annual conference descend on the great city of Liverpool.

The Conference

Always a highlight of the construction industry calendar, the NBG Conference has become one of the largest gatherings…

12 Oct

Delegates at a conference set up by the newly-formed National Construction Training Services (NCTS) have banded together in a pledge to improve industry standards.

These groups and individuals have confirmed support for a new Roofing Sector Assessment Infrastructure and Sustainability Plan. This plan can be seen as a counteraction against…

25 Jul

American technology company Tesla has announced prices for an innovative new product.

The company, best known for its electric vehicles, hopes its long-awaited ‘Solar Roof’ will help to revolutionise the home energy market and make renewables a viable option for more people.

What is it?

Tesla’s new product is a roof cladding…

28 Jun

Slate is a natural product that has been used in roofing for hundreds of years. As a roofing material, slate has many great benefits!

Let’s take a look at some of the main advantages of using JRC’s quality slate tiles as a building material on your roof.

Fire Resistance

The formation of…

19 Jun

Roofing is an industry particularly at risk of skin damage due to UV light and sun safety should always be paramount. Workers tend to be out in the sun all day in an elevated position, with many choosing to remove clothing for improved comfort in hotter conditions. When it’s…

13 Feb

The government’s Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has released a new report on the UK housing industry.

Plans for a ‘Broken’ Housing Market

Entitled Fixing our Broken Housing Market, the report outlines Communities Secretary Sajid Javid’s plans for addressing housing problems encountered by local councils. The government has…

17 Jan

Slate has been used as a material for roofing for hundreds of years, and for good reason. In Europe, slate from Spain accounts for over 90% of the total amount used for roof coverings. Here at JRC Slate, we offer an extensive selection of Spanish slate for you to…

6 Dec

Want to be in with the chance of winning a £25 Marks & Spencer’s voucher? To enter, just caption the photo that we have posted on Twitter and Facebook. The more creative your entry, the better chance you have of winning.

The competition closes on the 27th January,…

7 Nov

A new report has recently been released by Aurora Energy Research at the STA’s ‘Smart Power’ event at the Conservative party conference, quantifying the cost of integrating solar into the UK power market. The report shows results of today’s market as well as in a 2030 scenario where solar…

26 Oct

Earlier this month, the UK Government announced plans for a £3bn Home Building Fund. The new funding will provide loans to homebuilders and essential infrastructure, to help them build 25,000 new homes by 2020 and 225,000 in the long term.

The recent news came from British Chancellor of the Exchequer…

29 Jun

Here at JRC we talk a lot about the importance of maintaining good processes when it comes to our slate. Grading all slate and properly planning out the roof you’re about to lay are common themes in our advice to clients. We don’t just say it because we like…

20 Jun

JRC at the Fortis Conference

We are pleased to announce that the Fortis Meeting in March was a huge success, Gary Langford National Sales Manager and James Robinson Key Account Manager attended the meeting and the feedback was very positive.  At JRC we are proud of our Customer Service and…

17 Feb

BIM is an acronym standing for Building Information Modelling, or Building Information Model. It is used to create a unified approach to the process of designing a building with multiple collaborators on one computer system, rather than using separate sets of drawings.

Even though the word building is used, the…

28 Jan

People within the construction industry are increasingly aware of the environmental impact their buildings have on the planet. This is important to everyone, and people should be aware from the initial design phase right through to the last person onsite.

It is important that people throughout the industry know what…

14 Dec

We have celebrated a few staff milestones within JRC over the past few months.

Wendy Foster in our accounts department celebrated 3 years of service in August as our accounts assistant. In addition to this, Gary Langford, our National Sales Manager has completed 5 years of service with us in…

20 Nov

A recent survey by RICS UK Construction suggests that skill shortages in the industry are the worst they have been for 20 years. There are a number of reasons why construction firms in the UK have been struggling to secure a stable growth. These include limited access to credit…

22 Sep

Experts have been ensuring the quality of slates through testing since 1944, when BS 680 was first introduced. Back then, the process of sourcing slates was very different to the process today. Most informed decisions were made by seeing which slates performed the best over the life of the…

22 Sep

We recently got some feedback from a project where our Calidad 120 slates were used and we think that the end result is great!

Of course we can’t take all the credit, the installation itself is excellent!

The Calidad 120 from our Spanish quarries is a heavy grade slate and we…

26 Aug

Each year we celebrate our company success through various award ceremonies, but we also make sure that our members of staff are celebrated individually.

We have recently announced the winner of our employee of the year – Warehouse Manager Kieron McCallion.

Voted for by the other members of the JRC team,…

10 Aug

JRC Crowned Winners at E3 Awards

JRC are pleased to announced that we were awarded with the “Skills, Education and Training Award” at the E3 Awards 2015. There were 16 award categories in total, including “Social Enterprise of the Year”, “Customer Service Award” and “Business of the Year.”

The finals ceremony…

7 Aug

Each year, the JRC team take a trip to the Spanish quarries, where we source the material for our slate products.  It is clear that the quarry owners have a clear passion for the high quality of their products. This is one of the main reasons why we have…

29 Jul

Here at JRC we always ensure that our customers get the best products for their needs – giving the best results for the job at the best price.

Although we offer a variety of slates, we focus primarily on selling the best Spanish slate across the UK. Whilst the Spanish…

21 Jul

Nowadays, more or less everything comes with a warranty. Don’t get us wrong – that’s a great thing. But it does add a layer of complexity to the buying process that most people don’t really consider.

Now, the commonly accepted wisdom is that a longer, broader warranty is better than…

17 Jul

You may not have been aware, but the slate market has been undergoing a slow but undeniable shift over the last few years. France, traditionally the largest consumer of natural slate in the world, has been showing less and less demand for slate for almost five years now.

Exciting stuff,…

21 May

The UK has a long history, with much of this reflected in the rich array of architecture across the country in thousands of listed buildings. Many of these lie in conservation areas, and due care and consideration is needed when renovations and other construction work is undertaken – both…

22 Apr

The Construction Design and Management, or CDM, Regulations are put in place to increase the effectiveness of health and safety measures and give greater peace of mind to all workers involved. Recently, the biggest change to these regulations has been approved, which directly affects domestic projects and SMEs for…

20 Apr

Completing a slate roof is a difficult task, but the end product is always worth it when compared to other materials.

Due to the nature of slate and the imperfections of natural materials, there will always be more work needed to get the slates graded for your roofing installation and…

15 Apr

Choosing the right slate for your roof is an important choice and should not be taken lightly. In addition to the size, thickness and type of slate, you should take into account the construction method, the building and its surroundings.

New Builds

New builds can often be designed in any manner…

13 Mar

Apprentice at JRC

Our accounting department has grown temporarily, as we are helping with a local apprenticeship scheme with a student from Accrington & Rossendale College – Lewis Fisk.

Lewis has been with us for some weeks now, helping our accounting department whilst gaining valuable insights, skills and experience into the…

11 Mar

Last month marked a significant milestone to us here at JRC. Alan Clarke celebrated his 10^th year with the company on February the 28^th.

As our first employee whilst the company was growing, Alan was instrumental in the success of the company, helping us in those early days and allowing…

27 Feb

The recently updated British standard will come into full effect this coming Sunday (1^st Mar), after the cross-over period from the change in the standard last August.

BS 5534:2014 “Slating and tiling for pitched roofs and vertical cladding. Code of practice” is a full revision of the standard, which is…

4 Feb

Low pitched roofing solutions are becoming increasingly popular with homeowners across the globe. We’ve put together this useful information which outlines the main things you need to know when working with these types of designs.

These particular roofs have a low angle so that they can incorporate a window and…

28 Nov

August 31^st 2014 saw an update to the British Standard for Slating and Tiling (BS 5534). This update is designed to help with the overall security of roofing structures, and contains a number of welcomed changes.

The standard will have a 6 month coexistence period where both the old and…

22 Sep

The slate industry has a long and celebrated history, with the industry in the UK traceable back to Wales during the Roman Empire. Slate was utilised by these ancient developers to slate the roof of a fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. These simplistic beginnings grew steadily, with rapid expansion…

22 Sep

Our new website and blog aim to give you the best products and information to cover everything you need for slate roofing and accessories. With our reputation for quality and expertise, you can be sure that you are getting the best products, fantastic prices and reliable information when dealing…