CGI International Group, one of Europe’s leading independent manufacturers of fire resistant glazing marketed under the Pyroguard brand, has reinforced its European reach with the creation of CGI France – a new trading entity. Taking over the business activities of Interver SA in France, a long established producer of fire resistant glasses, CGI France will enhance the existing range of products manufactured by CGI International, with the company retaining the Interver brand for the next 12 months.
Located in the East of France at Seingbouse in Moselle, close to the German Border, CGI France (formerly Interver), will operate a 120,000 square foot production facility – which will more than double the Group’s current manufacturing capacity.
From a customer and service perspective, the new operation will increase the efficiency of deliveries to pan-European customers while the Pyroguard portfolio will now include the complete range of E, EW and EI products for all timber, steel, aluminium, double glazed and butt joint applications. The existing manufacturing facility at CGI International headquarters in Haydock will continue to manufacture EW rated fire glass with UK and Ireland customers also benefitting from access to an extended range of fully tested products.
David Jolliffe, Managing Director, CGI International, explains what these developments mean for the market: “We can now truly offer a complete range of fire glass solutions for all building industry requirements. Importantly for our customers, in the UK and across Europe, the two manufacturing sites enable us to offer a highly competitive and extremely efficient delivery service on the full product portfolio.”
In addition to an improved product portfolio, CGI France will provide access to an in-house testing furnace, which is a valuable new asset for the R&D team. As a company that is committed to one of the most comprehensive fire testing programmes globally, the testing furnace will help reduce the time it takes to bring new products to market and will provide a cost effective resource for testing and research.
CGI France is one of the first major investments within a longer term Group strategy to become the market leading provider of fire glass products to the building industry globally. Christophe Guillot, CGI International Chairman, concludes: “Establishing CGI France and taking over the business activities of Interver strengthen our position as fire glass specialists and consolidate our footprint in Continental Europe. Planned capital expenditure will also support the development of our activity and will generate new job opportunities over the next three years.”
