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Stuart Nicholson
Director of Roof Systems
Stuart has been working in the construction industry for over 30 years and has spent the last 14 years at Marley. He started at builder’s merchant Harcros and joined as part of the Builders Merchant Federations (BMF) pathfinder scheme which expanded his knowledge of the industry. During this time he also attended college in the evenings and gained a HNC in construction. Harcros was acquired by Jewson in 1997, and Stuart worked up to a management position before setting up his own independent merchant. Stuart joined Marley in 2010 as an area sales manager. He enjoyed all aspects of the role especially specification work, he gained several specifications including the Sheffield Council re-roofing scheme, which took over two years to secure. The project, which is still ongoing, is one of the largest projects of its kind and involves renewing the roofs of more than 7,000 council homes with better insulation and new roof tiles. He explains: “It’s the biggest re-roofing scheme in Europe, so there was a lot to get through – including recommending robust specification which fulfilled the clients’ requirements and attending tenants’ association meetings – and I’m quite proud to have been involved.” Stuart was then promoted to commercial manager, overseeing all buying groups and national merchant groups that trade with Marley. He worked on the acquisition of timber specialist John Brash & Co. More recently was heavily involved in the acquisition of solar PV company Viridian, which would lead to the development of the Marley SolarTile®. He has worked on various task groups with Marley. He completed the Etex leadership programme in Belgium, which was run by the Vlerick Business School. He also did the Institute of Roofing exams, where he was named Student of the Year in 2012. Stuart is heavily involved with industry bodies and sits on several committees and groups, looking at changes in legislation and industry issues such as quality and new products. He sat on the Construction Products Association (CPA) marketing integrity group, which formed the response to the Hacket review and created the Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI), which aims to make construction product information clear, accurate, up-to-date, accessible and unambiguous. Stuart has also been involved with British Standards Institute (BSI) committees and industry bodies to influence and improve standards in the construction industry. One particular area of interest has been the quality and safety of timber battens. There are several battens being shipped into the country and stamped as meeting British Standards but not actually compliant, which represents a risk to all roofing contractors being sold them. He has brought this to the attention of the RTA and NFRC and has worked to highlight to installers and end-users the importance of choosing battens that are strong and reliable, such as JB Red. Stuart also developed the Marley Roof Defence product. When the NHBC was raising concerns about fire safety in semi-detached and terraced houses, he came up with the idea. “When the ex-firefighter involved in the project said it was a much-needed product that would make a difference, that was a high point for me,” he says. Stuart says that he really enjoys the variety that his role at Marley offers. “I get involved with research and development, purchasing, looking for new opportunities, feasibility studies, sales and training. I’m involved with all the different areas of the business, so every day is different, with either a new piece of legislation to learn about or a problem to solve.”