Rockwool Takes Next Step on New West Midlands Factory

ROCKWOOL has taken the next step towards construction of a second factory in the West Midlands by submitting a ‘Section 73’ application.

Global insulation manufacturer ROCKWOOL submitted the application to Birmingham City Council. The facility would boost supply capacity for UK and Republic of Ireland customers. It will also support hundreds of construction jobs and create new, long-term skilled roles.

ROCKWOOL, which has operated from South Wales since 1979, has strong foundations in the UK and intends to build a second plant on the Peddimore site, near Minworth, northeast of Birmingham.

The site already has outline planning permission for manufacturing in general. This Section 73 application is requesting permission to vary some of the details in the current permissions to suit ROCKWOOL’s specific proposal.

If given the go-ahead to adapt the permissions, ROCKWOOL plans to submit a more detailed Reserved Matters application later in 2025 or early 2026.

If both applications are approved, construction could begin in 2026 with the facility becoming operational in 2029.

Local Community Feedback

Since plans for the new facility were announced in November 2024, ROCKWOOL has carried out the first phase of a community engagement programme to share initial information and listen to feedback.

ROCKWOOL plans to carry out a second phase of engagement once more detailed plans and designs have been developed.

Information about the plans is available to view here and will be updated as the proposal develops.

Nick Wilson, ROCKWOOL MD

Nick Wilson, Managing Director of ROCKWOOL UK & Ireland, said: “Since we announced our intentions to expand the business into the West Midlands, we have had an opportunity to share our plans with the community and are very grateful to those who have provided feedback. We are taking all feedback into consideration as we develop the plans and have included the community’s observations so far in our Section 73 application to the Council.

“We look forward to meeting with community members again in the coming months.”

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