We at the Keystone Group are committed to continuous investment in our people, products, processes and services. In the last year we have opened new factory premises, carried out extensions across all sites and entered into new markets including Germany, New Zealand, Australia and Belgium. With the growth and development of the three younger businesses in the group and a new strategic partnership with Wyckham Blackwell, our workforce has grown in the last year to over 1,000 employees.

Our award winning trend has continued throughout the year. Our dedication to innovation has been rewarded with various innovation awards including British Construction Industry Awards 2016, Structural Timber Awards 2016 and the 2016 Buildit Awards.

With the year that was, it has been difficult to choose our top three highlights. Here our are top news stories that best sum up 2016 at Keystone. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our clients, partners, associates and staff for their dedication and support, without which such success would simply not be possible.

UTV Business Eye Company of the Year 2016 Award winning year

The successes of the group throughout the year culminated in being awarded Company of the Year at the UTV Business Eye Awards in November. To have been presented with this award was the icing on the cake for an already ground breaking year for the group, and it was particularly rewarding to have been recognised as a success story at a local level in Northern Ireland.

Speaking after the award was announced, Richard Buckley, editor of Business Eye
Magazine said, “The Keystone Group impressed the judging panel with a detailed entry which painted a comprehensive picture of an extremely dynamic indigenous County Tyrone company. Clearly it has grown in impressive fashion from its roots as a small-scale supplier of steel lintels to become a major employer and one of the most driven and innovative companies in Northern Ireland as a whole.”

A visit from the Secretary of State

In 2016 Keystone Group was honoured to be the first Northern Ireland based manufacturing company to be singled out for praise by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond through its inclusion in the Parliamentary Review. The Group was one of only six construction and engineering companies in a review which provides a comprehensive summary of the past year and a reliable template for next 12 months with commentary from industry leading companies, Secretaries of State, Ministers and MPs.

Chairman, Sean Coyle, was presented with the official copy of the Parliamentary review by the Secretary of State, the RT Hon James Brokenshire MP, on a visit to Keystone HQ, Cookstown on the 13th of October 2016.

In the Review, the company was commended for its pioneering approach to addressing the major challenges facing the UK construction market, such as skilled labour shortages. The Group was also applauded for its recent innovations, which have been developed to meet the stringent regulation challenges faced by house builders.

An Inspirational year for Keylite

An exceptional year for Keylite was summed up by collecting the Supplier of the Year title at the prestigious Builders Merchant News Awards. Earlier in the year, Keylite Roof Windows was named as one of Europe’s most innovative and inspiring companies, according to the inaugural edition of London Stock Exchange Group’s, ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Europe’ report.

Commenting on this prestigious recognition from the London Stock Exchange Group, John Duffin MD of Keylite says: ‘We are delighted if somewhat shocked to be highlighted as one of the most inspiring companies in Europe. Innovation is at the heart of everything we do at Keylite, and so to be recognised for this is a great source of pride and a testament to our pioneering R&D team and the wider Keylite team in Cookstown, our HQ in Swadlincote in England and our extensive team in our factory in Poland. Keylite has been recording double digit growth for the last 10 years, with an imminent market launch in Germany and France planned for later this year, as well as further expansion into Australia and the US planned for 2017. This recognition from London Stock Exchange just reinforces our ambitious growth plans.’

Innovation Key to Smartroof’s Success

It was a successful Autumn for Smartroof, with success at both the Structural Timber Awards and the Built It Awards. Smartroof’s Classic Room-in-Roof panel system picked up the award for ‘Best Cladding/Roofing System or Product’ at the 2016 Build It Awards ceremony. The company’s commitment to innovation was then recognised by winning the ‘Product Innovation Award’ category for the thermally advanced Prism roof panel system at the Structural Timber Awards in October.

Smartroof’s R&D team have worked tirelessly to produce safer, faster and more cost effective methods of room in roof construction that guarantee the benefits of site safety, thermal performance and speed of construction, all whilst locking in cost-certainty at a fixed supply and fit price. Peter Nordon, Smartroof’s Managing Director commented, “We are absolutely thrilled to have received this award that recognises roofing excellence. At Smartroof we have listened to our customers and worked hard to develop an innovative system that overcomes the risks associated with traditional roof construction.”

BCI Awards success for IG Masonry Support

IG Masonry Support Systems has enjoyed success at last year’s British Construction Industry (BCI) Awards, winning the Product Design Innovation Award for its ground breaking Brick Slip Masonry Support System. IG Masonry Support’s Brick Slip Masonry Support System won the accolade thanks to its significant time-saving properties. The IG brick slip systems offer up to a 90% reduction of on-site labour and a 70% weight saving against traditional methods.

Owen Coyle, General Manager at IG Masonry Support, said: “We are delighted to have won the Product Design Innovation Award at the BCI Awards. The system is fantastic for installers, thanks to its offsite quality and ease of assembly. More importantly this award acknowledged the service and technical support we executed on specific projects with our innovative product. A great product backed up with excellent service and support.”

The BCI Award is the third innovation award that IG Masonry Support has won in 12 months. Watch this space for the next innovative product to come from this award winning company.

Key Growth for IG Elements

The news for IG Elements was dominated last year by key appointments to the team. As part of its significant expansion, IG Elements appointed Paul Wilkinson as their new National Sales Manager. In his new role Paul is responsible for maintaining and developing IG Elements growing customer base as well as managing the internal and external sales teams. The company also welcomed Production Manager, Rob Satherley to its growing team. With over a decade of experience in the GRP and house building industries, Rob has an in-depth understanding of the demands of the housing sector and the importance of meeting any challenges head on. These new appointments, together with the expanding facilities in South Derbyshire, are indicative of the company’s response to continued demands.

IG Elements also celebrated being shortlisted for ‘Best Site Product’ at the 2016 Housebuilder Product Awards. The Redi Dormer helps transform usable space in the roof of a building whilst adding value. A fully-moulded one piece, offsite solution, the Redi Dormer arrives ready to install, therefore reducing the demand for skilled labour onsite.

Summing up the year, Managing Director Liam Kelly commented ‘It has been a year of significant change for us at IG Elements. We have taken on board feedback from customers and expanded both our team and our facilities to cater for increased demand for our products. We are fully committed to customer care and are excited about the prospects for 2017.’