Kilwaughter Minerals Ramps Up Focus in Research & Development

Kilwaughter Minerals is a £40m revenue business with core brands including K Rend, K Systems and Kilwaughter Lime. The company is extending their investment in R&D, ready for a future driven by innovative solutions for their core markets.

This builds on the Company’s sustained track record of investing in the business where significant annual investment in production plant is the norm and, more recently, includes the completion of a new business centre at its Kilwaughter HQ.

Organisational focus on longer term planning has allowed further investments in people, process and capability for its R&D function, adding new talent to drive strategic plans. These plans are aimed at upscaling business opportunities through the exploration of new technologies for construction and agriculture markets. The best of these technologies will be brought to market as part of the company’s next generation of products and solutions.

Building on existing R&D foundations, the new team includes Research scientists and experienced product development leadership. The Company’s Head of R&D, Ross Savage commented ‘I’m really proud to welcome the changes and further focus on our R&D team, and we are excited to have such capable and enthusiastic new members join us as we continue to look for new ways to serve our customers.’

Three of the new team members are PhD graduates from Queen’s University Belfast where they focused on a range of relevant technologies. Accolades include winning a national ‘Future Innovator Awards’ competition, with an entry based on chemical technologies applicable to Kilwaughter Minerals’ markets.

In conjunction with investments in the team, the business has developed multi-year technology and product roadmaps across each of the three brands along with a system for creating and evaluating new product ideas. Caroline Rowley, the company’s Head of Business Development added, ‘We don’t expect the future to find us, we are structuring the business to lead as an innovator in our segments with our customers at the heart of our thinking.’