PM Tries Roof Slating Ahead of G7 Summit

THE PRIME MINISTER, Boris Johnson, tried his hand at roof slating yesterday (9 June) at the West Carclaze Garden Village housing development in St Austell, Cornwall, ahead of the G7 Summit.

Standing on roof level scaffolding he experienced roof slating, and was shown how to place and fix roof slates using a slater’s hammer by a roofer on the site.

James Talman CEO NFRC

NFRC CEO James Talman said: “We are delighted that the Prime Minister chose to include roofing alongside the renewable energy and aerospace sectors in his pre-G7 tour of Cornwall. The Prime Minister clearly sees roofing as being integral to his levelling up agenda.

“Now that the PM has had first-hand experience as a roofer, he would have seen how skilled and rewarding a craft it is. I encourage him to now back RoofCERT – the UK‘s accreditation scheme for roofing operatives, to help professionalise the sector, up-skill roofers, and attract new talent into our industry, to help level up the UK and to build back better.”

Imerys Development

The Prime Minister’s visit was to the 1,500 housing development which is part of an eco-village plan developed by Orascom Development and Imerys.

Imerys is a name familiar to many in the industry as former Paris headquartered owners of clay extraction sites in Cornwall and the roof tile manufacturer, now owned by Edilians.

The housing development is located at and re-uses one of the former clay quarries. It is the first development of what is a planned series of eco-villages to be developed on the former clay works surrounding St Austell in Cornwall.

Earlier this year, the Government awarded the West Carclaze Garden Village additional infrastructure funding.