Firestone Building Products has changed its name to Elevate, part of the Holcim Group, to begin a new chapter in its long and successful history. Philip Moors, UK & Ireland Managing Director, discusses the story so far and offers an insight into the company’s vision and what lies ahead.
The Firestone brand was born more than a century ago when Harvey S. Firestone founded the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in 1900 in Akron, Ohio. In 1980, the company stepped into the waterproofing industry and Firestone Building Products began to forge its reputation as a global leader in rubber-based roofing and lining systems. A focus on research and development and innovation over the last forty years has seen more than 1.5 billion sq m of single ply membranes produced and installed worldwide.
In 1991, Firestone Building Products UK & Ireland was established as part of a wider growth plan to increase market share globally. Over the last three decades, the UK business has rapidly expanded driven by a growing demand for EPDM and TPO roofing and lining systems across the residential and commercial sectors.
Recognising Firestone’s success and potential, Holcim acquired Firestone Building Products in April 2021 — a move that saw it for the first time integrate products outside of its core business. Reflecting Holcim’s ambition to accelerate further growth, the Elevate brand was revealed in June 2022.
Widening our offer
As Elevate, we will become a part of Holcim’s new Building Envelope division, which forms part of its Solutions and Products business unit. This will see us join a large and growing portfolio of respected brands providing a vast range of solutions to the commercial and residential sectors.
Over the next three years, Holcim is aiming to significantly strengthen its market presence across the world, including Europe. The Elevate brand is key to this strategy and in the UK, this will see us cement our leading position in the EPDM industry, including becoming more prominent in the commercial sector.
Steps have already been taken to achieve these aims. Our recent investment in NBS Source, which will make it easier for specifiers to access product data, is just one example. We are also seeking to bolster our technical sales team ensuring we have the expertise to build relationships with contractors, specifiers and developers working in the commercial sector.
In terms of our EPDM presence, our focus is on new product development and building awareness of the complete systems we offer, enabling the sector to benefit from roofing membranes, insulation and accessories from a single supplier.
A sustainable future
As Elevate, sustainability will run through the heart of our approach, ensuring we can continue to deliver highly durable products that minimise environmental impact while responding to our customers’ changing needs.
With excellent recyclability and an extended service life, EPDM is already the most environmentally friendly material available for flat and low-slope roofs. But there is always room to develop and raise standards in our sector to meet changing customer and market demands — an ethos shared by Holcim. We must keep innovating to further minimise the impact of our products on the environment and develop long-term solutions that deliver efficiency benefits to contractors and resilient roofs for the end user.
Increasing the use of recyclable materials and reducing waste is just one way that we are seeking to achieve this. This is leading to ongoing investment into innovation, research and development that is driving the launch of new products as demonstrated by the recent introduction of RubberGutter EPDM SA, for waterproofing of residential and commercial gutters.
With no need to apply adhesives on site, RubberGutter EPDM SA is a self-adhered, synthetic EPDM rubber waterproofing membrane designed for gutter repair. It is installed using a release liner, which when removed can be recycled along with the packaging.
From a sustainability perspective, it is chemically inert, minimises waste during application, and providers gutters with a long service life. As it is so quick and easy to install, it also helps contractors to overcome issues linked to skills shortages and rising labour costs, enabling them to remain competitive in an increasingly challenging market.
With the financial backing and support of Holcim, similar technologies are being developed that will not only deliver sustainability benefits, but reduce costs, labour and installation times for installers. This will result in new products launching under the Elevate brand within the next three years.
The next level
With a new name comes a large amount of work to change our branding across all platforms, materials and literature, which is now starting. Our customers are now beginning to see Elevate on our roofing and lining products, all of which will remain in the market. Our warranties, and distribution network will also stay the same.
In the meantime, we are already responding to Holcim’s ambition to accelerate green growth and Elevate is a name that symbolises that commitment. It also emulates our ambition to keep moving to the next level with more innovation and advanced building products that can meet our customers’ needs now and in the future.
We are looking forward to bringing our customers with us so that we can continue to deliver advanced solutions across wider applications and sectors.
Click the link for more information on Firestone’s evolution under the new Elevate brand.
