Stephen Kinnock visits local construction products manufacturer Siderise

On 17th June, Stephen Kinnock, Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Aberavon, visited Siderise Insulation’s HQ and main manufacturing plant in Maesteg, South Wales after a boundary change brought this into the constituency for which he is standing at the forthcoming election.

Siderise Insulation is a global leader in the design, manufacture, and supply of passive fire solutions for the building envelope, their products assisting to prevent the spread of fire behind the building facade. It is a major local employer for Maesteg, having doubled its size in the last four years and was recently listed as one of The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2024.

As well as learning about the business’ history, and discussing local employment issues, an in-depth conversation was had about the strength of the construction products manufacturing sector generally, which employs some 380,000 people across 24,000 firms, with 75% of the construction products used in the UK manufactured here too.

The visit involved a tour around Siderise’s facilities which have received a multi-million-pound investment in recent years, including a new Quality Control Lab, a £2.1m high-speed automated production line and an Innovation and Testing Centre opened by the First Minister.

After the visit, Stephen commented:

“I’ve been incredibly impressed by what I have seen at Siderise here today. There’s so much innovation happening in the business and the total commitment to the integrity of the product is obviously right in the DNA of the company. I am also impressed by the number of good jobs that are being providing here and the important part that will play in the Maesteg community and beyond.”

CEO of Siderise and Chair of the Construction Products Association, Adam Turk, added:
 

“It was great to be able to show Stephen around our site, and for him to see for himself the innovation and technical excellence which have made Siderise the leader in its field. Siderise has been in Maesteg since 1991 and our products are now exported to projects all over the world. It was also interesting to hear his thoughts on the wider challenges for manufacturing in the region and how Labour’s plans for an Industrial Strategy will help.”