Bay presence for significant Jamaica opening

Steve Saunders

Global Roofing Solutions managing director Lance Eagle will be in Jamaica for the official opening by Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller of the first of its turnkey roofing tile factories on July 23.

The 1200sq m facility was set up for client Arc Manufacturing.

"This is our first to be up and running," said Mr Eagle, adding the company had signed contracts for other factories in the Americas. North and South America and the Caribbean have been the initial focus for Global Roofing, because of its special relationship with major US manufacturer Bradbury Group.

"What makes us different is that we help clients to understand whether their investment in one of our factories is going to stack up," said Mr Eagle. "That is quite unique in this industry."

Another key factor of the company's approach was the speed with which it could get its turnkey roof tiling factories up and running.

"We did a lot of research and found that a lot of customers were frustrated at the slowness of getting a return on their investment," he said.

"One of our biggest advantages is our understanding of the marketplace. Once we install our machinery into a customer's factory, we can have them up and running and producing dollars faster than anybody else in the industry. From the moment our guys turn up, unload the containers, they can have the whole operation running with fully trained staff within three weeks."

Mr Eagle said another way Global Roofing differed from traditional equipment suppliers was that as well as designing unique custom tiles the company could assist with marketing strategies for the end product. Services for the Jamaica factory had included Mr Eagle taking part in a meeting with the client's team to help set up a marketing strategy, he said.

Director Steve Saunders said that one of the reasons Global Roofing had been able to secure the relationship with Bradbury Group was because the company provided a new and different offering for its sales people. In addition, parts of the Global Roofing tile production lines could require other equipment which could be supplied by Bradbury and its subsidiaries, including Rotorua-based Hayes International.