Following its move from Kent last year, Staffordshire Moorlands MP Charlotte Atkins has officially opened Lafarge Cement’s £2 million state-of-the-art National Laboratory at Cauldon in Staffordshire, reinforcing the company’s focus on quality and meeting customers’ needs.

The purpose-built, 728 sq m building marks a significant step up in terms of Lafarge Cement’s technical facilities in the UK. Work carried out at the new lab is complemented and supported by the cutting edge facilities at the Lafarge Group’s Western European technical centre and research department in Lyon, France. The new UK laboratory is geographically central to Lafarge’s UK plant network.

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The Lab’s eleven-strong team of technical experts work alongside technical staff based at each works to ensure that the company’s products continue to perform to the highest possible levels in their targeted construction uses. It also tests new products and their possible uses, ensuring the company continues to develop cements to suit customers’ evolving needs.

On announcing the Lab officially open, Charlotte Atkins said: "It was a pleasure to be asked to officially open this impressive building. As well as the Works being a very important local employer, this laboratory has brought 11 highly skilled jobs to the Staffordshire Moorlands and it was good to see those complex jobs in action.

"I congratulate Lafarge on its 50th birthday at Cauldon Works and also on the opening of their national laboratory and pay tribute to the staff at the Works, whose dedication and professionalism led Lafarge to invest in this nationally significant facility within the Staffordshire Moorlands."

(CL)