BRC Ltd
UK leader BRC continues to achieve unrivalled success through its commitment to safety, innovation and sustainable compliance and remains at the forefront of the industry
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UK leader BRC continues to achieve unrivalled success through its commitment to safety, innovation and sustainable compliance and remains at the forefront of the industry
After gaining a patent for electrically welded mesh fabric, John Hall founded the British Reinforcement Company (BRC) in 1905. With a focus on customers’ needs the company pursued a programme of continuous product and service development, and BRC has grown to become a market leader in supplying UK CARES certified steel reinforcement products and accessories to the UK construction market. Its products range from rebar and standard fabric, through specialist products for applications such as ground stabilisation, to customengineered formwork, masonry reinforcement and bespoke industrial welded wire mesh. As of today the company has supplied to some of the largest and most iconic construction projects in the country such as Wembley Stadium, the Olympic Village, the Dartford Crossing and has ongoing supplier contracts in the Crossrail programme.
“Safe and responsible production is at the heart of all of our operations, and we are working with the construction industry as a whole towards the goal of zero accidents,” begins Managing Director, John Collins immediately pointing out the company’s committed focus to health and safety. Quality products are central to BRC achieving this safety objective and as such it was the first steel reinforcement supplier to gain BES 6001, OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001 as well as becoming a member of the Institute of Customer Service. “We have always been at the forefront of certification,” explains John. “By maintaining this leading status, we can provide all of the certificates our customer requires upfront to provide evidence to their client or main contractor.”
Also enabling BRC to stand out in the market are its wide offering and sustainability practices. John continues: “We combine our cutting edge detailing solutions team, led by our new BIM (Building Information Modelling) Manager Maurice Hill, and UK wide production and distribution facilities to allow us to supply more steel reinforcement than any other supplier to any type of project or customer throughout the UK. Sustainability and responsible sourcing are also vital to our business, so we only buy steel that has been sourced and produced within the UK, this means our final product has a fraction of the carbon burden of steel that has been imported.”
Sitting at the heart of BRC’s defining value of continuous development is its approach to innovation. The company places emphasis on ensuring all departments can operate within a creative environment to foster an innovative and progressive culture. This is implemented through robust Total Quality Management processes. “One exciting recent innovation is our True Cost of Reinforcement project that we are starting with some of our customers,” highlights John. “This is a collaborative projectlooking at how we can help our customers save on-site costs to process the delivered product. From the information collected, we can propose bespoke changes to our deliveries to ensure that the customer not only gets the highest quality of material but also a service that aids their construction plan and costs.”
Continuing its tradition of occupying a leading position at the forefront of the construction industry, BRC has been a major driver of innovation into complying with the UK’s BIM programme. The BIM project, which seeks to introduce a centrally led global digital construction technology for building modelling is currently at the cutting edge of construction planning and the UK’s booming construction market is the perfect breeding ground for such a project to cultivate and grow. BRC has ensured it is part of this by investing heavily into its ability to provide the best 3D-BIM ready solutions to its customers. Maurice Hill, BIM Manager at BRC comments: “With the government’s BIM initative deadline of January 2016 looming, we have invested to ensure we are ready to interact with the supply chain in the advancement of construction technology. BRC has always been at the forefront of the steel reinforcement market and advancing in this area will continue to maintain that position.”
By reacting to such opportunities and maintaining its ability to push the construction industry’s envelope, BRC is operating positively to secure its future success. In order to retain its market leading position as it moves forward, John lists some of the things the company will be focusing on in particular:“We will be looking at increasing our already leading supply capacity, continuing to invest in providing 3D-Detailed solutions to our customers and their clients, and continuing to always purchase responsibly sourced and produced steel of UK origin. Making sure we stay one step ahead of compliance and future developments is a key objective.
“At BRC we are proud to think of ourselves as the largest, greenest and safest steel reinforcement supplier in the UK and we will work hard to produce further innovative solutions to continue to supply safe, responsibly sourced and high quality products into the UK construction market.”
BRC Ltd
Services: Manufactures engineered steel reinforcement products