PE-backed architectural glazing and facade systems specialist The Clarison Group launches

Submitted 22/02/2021 - 10:52am

The Clarison Group has been formally launched, bringing together four leading companies in the façade industry, Alucraft Limited, Alucraft Systems Limited, Williaam Cox and EAG, to create a new force in the design, manufacture and installation of architectural glazing and façade systems in the UK & Ireland. 

Alucraft Limited and Williaam Cox are based in Ireland and Alucraft Systems 
and EAG in the UK.

The Clarison Group is majority owned by Elaghmore, a UK-based private equity fund, which acquired the Alucraft and Williaam Cox businesses in 2018 and EAG in 2019.

The combined group has over 400 employees and operates from six locations throughout the UK and Ireland, including Dublin, Tamworth, Cannock, Rotherham, Mildenhall and Attleborough, with additional employed design teams based in Spain, Poland and the Philippines. In 2020 Elaghmore supported Alucraft to acquire an additional 3,000m2 manufacturing facility in Rotherham. This brings the total Clarison Group production capacity to over 25,000m2, utilising the latest off-site manufacturing techniques with advanced CNC manufacturing equipment, window, door and façade assembly lines, architectural sheet metal processing, structural bonding lines and a certified in-house powder coating facility. These facilities give the Group a market leading annual capacity of 430,000 production hours. 

Two new executive appointments have been made to lead the Group’s future growth.

Mark Oliver has been appointed to the new role of Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The Clarison Group. In this role he will head up the leadership team of the Managing Directors of the four businesses in the Group. Mark brings over 25 years of construction supply chain experience to the Group. He was previously CEO of the Colt Group, which designs, manufactures, installs, and maintains ventilation, smoke control, climate control and solar shading systems. Other roles Mark has held include Managing Director at H+H, the UK’s leading aircrete products provider, and Group Business Development Director at main contractor Laing O’Rourke.

Ronnie Mills has been appointed as Managing Director of Alucraft Ltd based in Dublin succeeding Jack McHugh who has led the Alucraft business since 2008 and prior to that Williaam Cox since 2002. Ronnie joins from McMullen Facades where he had worked since 1989, having held several key roles including most recently Managing Director, a position he held since 2016. Prior to this, Ronnie was Group Technical Director.
 
Jack McHugh will continue to work in Alucraft Ltd, as Chairman, supporting the leadership teams across the Group of companies. He will also assist Ronnie in building strong and sustainable relationships with the network of contacts Alucraft Ltd. has built over the years.

Oliver says: “I am delighted to have joined the business to lead the newly formed Clarison Group. The Clarison name combines the words clarity and vision. It embodies the purpose of the Group and complements our market leading Alucraft, EAG, and Williaam Cox brands. As a Group, we have the expertise, scale and experience to be a leading powerhouse in the design, manufacture and installation of façade systems for the built environment across the UK and Ireland. I look forward to building an exciting future.”

Mills adds: “There are exciting times ahead with the formation of The Clarison Group and I’m delighted to have been given the opportunity to be part of it within Alucraft. There is an impressive depth and breadth of knowledge within the Group which, when coupled with the facilities and technology available at the various manufacturing plants, will provide our clients with a world class service and an innovative solution for their projects. We bring construction expertise together with lean manufacturing processes that delivers in this highly technically area of building facades.”

McHugh says: “The reason I came into the Façade world (a few years ago) was a lot to do with the wonderful products and services Williaam Cox offered to the market. It has been a great and rewarding journey watching that business grow, then Alucraft scaling great heights and now being part of a Group with more than 400 employees and GBP100 million turnover. I am pleased to be providing continuity and assistance to customers and staff, for the continued success of companies within the Clarison Group.” 

The Clarison Group companies have the expertise and scale to deliver projects in the commercial office, educational and residential sectors, with a focus on a collaborative design process and innovative off-site construction methods.

Each of the companies in the Group offers full design and build solutions with vertically integrated in house design, valued supply chain partners, local manufacturing and directly managed installation teams. With one hundred design & engineering experts the Group has a core competence in offering innovative designs and value engineered solutions.

Alucraft Limited, led by Ronnie Mills, is a leader in the design, engineering, manufacturing, installation and maintenance of architectural glazing systems in the Republic of Ireland. It has a track record of providing facades to high-profile construction projects in Dublin, including the Fibonacci Square offices, the new European headquarters for Facebook, the new Salesforce Tower at Spencer Place and the Vertium Building, which is the headquarters for Amazon. Other projects include Lidl Ireland HQ and LinkedIn EMEA HQ. It has strong customer relationships with John Sisk and Son (Holdings) Ltd, John Paul Construction, Walls Construction Ltd and all leading Architects/Quantity Surveying Practices and Facade Consultants in Ireland. 

In the UK Alucraft Systems, led by Ian Davy, has worked on major buildings including Byron House in Nottingham, Tata Steel in Birmingham, Lancaster University Innovation Hub and the Bath University School of Management and Birmingham University School of Engineering. Its customer base includes BAM, Wilmott Dixon, Bouygues, Lendlease and Engie.
 
EAG, led by Mark Oliver as interim managing director, is a specialist in designing, supplying and installing complex and intensively engineered envelope cladding packages. EAG also has a sister company, MultiFab Limited, that produces architectural and bespoke metalwork in aluminium and mild steel. EAG has completed prestigious projects including Great Ormond Street Hospital, Embassy Gardens and The Royal College of Arts. Its customers include Ballymore, the Berkeley Group, Kier, Sir Robert McAlpine and Skanska.
Williaam Cox, led by Darragh Coleman, provides specialist glazing and is also a market leader in daylight products, smoke and heat ventilation solutions, the service and maintenance of life safety smoke control systems, and plastic distribution in Ireland. Williaam Cox has completed high-profile projects such the Seamark Building in Elm Park and numerous smoke ventilation projects in Dublin Airport Logistics Park and Horizon Business Park. Williaam Cox also works in partnership with Alucraft on all their projects to provide both Façade and Roof ventilation solutions for both smoke and natural ventilation. It is currently providing a smoke ventilation solution to the Façade of the National Children’s hospital in Dublin.
 
Andy Ducker, Co-Founder, Elaghmore Partners, says: “The formal launch of The Clarison Group today creates a new force in the UK and Ireland facades industry. The Group already has a strong new business pipeline, and we expect to employ more people as we grow over the coming years. As always, we will continuously strive to offer our customers the best service and quality with ongoing investment in people, technology and processes. We have sent a clear message to the construction industry about our position as a market leader.”

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