Welsh Slate

Address – Penrhyn Quarry Bethesda Bangor Gwynedd LL57 4YG
Email address – enquiries@welshslate.com
Tel – 01248 600656
Website – www.welshslate.com

About Welsh Slate

Welsh Slate is the world’s leading supplier of high-quality slate for a range of exterior and interior design applications. Over 500 million years old, the material is widely recognised as the finest natural slate in the world.

Welsh quarries have been supplying the world with the highest quality slate for hundreds of years. Welsh Slate own and operate the famous Penrhyn, Ffestiniog and Cwt-y-Bugail quarries in North Wales.

Natural Welsh slate is sustainable with a life expectancy of well over 100 years and can withstand the most extreme environmental and weather conditions. Combine this with its unique natural beauty, makes Welsh Slate the material of choice for an extensive range of diverse applications.

SALES & TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Detailed technical advice is freely available from the company’s highly trained and experienced sales & technical department with an unrivalled knowledge of natural slate.

Our experienced team are on hand to help.

OUR KEY PRODUCT RANGES
Roofing slates are generally supplied to high-specification restoration, repair or new-build projects on heritage, commercial and residential buildings. For these projects, products are generally specified by architects or building contractors and supplied through a network of specialist distributors. However, increasingly more private individuals are choosing to design and build their own properties and are choosing Welsh Slate.

The architectural and hard landscaping product range is particularly varied and includes domestic and commercial applications. Selected and specified by architects, interior designers, exterior designers and home owners, products are sold to the trade, via distributors or directly to the customers.

Decorative aggregates are used in private residential and public landscaping schemes and are sold to a range of outlets, typically garden centres, builders merchants and DIY stores or direct from Welsh Slate.

Construction aggregates are sold directly to ready-mixed concrete and precast concrete products contractors in the road, housing and utility sectors.

The industrial minerals division supplies specialist granules and powders for industries as diverse as automotive, paint and roofing felt, to name just a few. Products are generally sold directly to the manufacturers.

SUSTAINABILITY

Welsh Slate fully recognise the potential impact of its quarrying and manufacturing activities and protecting the environment is central to our operations.

We are totally committed to conducting our business in an environmentally responsible manner and continuously strive to minimise the potential impacts of our activities, maximising the environmental benefits and promoting sustainable development within our operations. We recognise our social responsibility obligations in our various roles, which include producer, investor, employer and consumer.

We are committed to ensuring that our business is conducted in all respects according to rigorous ethical, professional and legal standards

Welsh Slate is committed to:

Maintaining accredited ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems across all our sites which are central to our approach in ensuring compliance with legal & other requirements and the effective management of environmental risks

Driving continuous improvement in relation to environmental performance adopting the use of new technologies, best practice, better techniques, more efficient processes, monitoring and measurement processes and setting of objectives, target’s and KPI’s
Continuous review of policies, procedures and other arrangements to verify their effectiveness and if identified implement potential improvement
Effectively manage energy consumption with the aim of reducing and minimising CO² emissions
Utilise every tonne of slate for its optimum performance and value, minimising operational process waste re-using and re-cycling where possible whilst also continuously seeking alternative uses within other products and industries
Minimise waste generation, in particular waste for disposal at landfill whilst maximising re-cycling opportunities of waste produced
Sympathetic restoration and reinstatement of its sites through the use of natural materials and indigenous species to maintain and enhance where possible the character of each location
Ensuring the provision of all the resources required are provided, engaging with stakeholders and in particular the local community to ensure a collaborative approach is adopted where possible to achieve the above

Gallery

Testimonials

“I was very happy to mentor these extremely promising young landscape designers and to see the Welsh Slate and Breedon products used so well in the gardens in this new category for the show.”

RHS Chelsea Paul Hervey-Brookes, garden designer who is also a RHS judge,

“Where and when it is appropriate, we only ever specify Welsh Slate roofing slate as its quality and durability is unsurpassed.”

Holy Trinity Church Llandudno Director Andrew Kepczyk from Architects, Surveyors and Historic Building Consultants

“While the heritage connection and desire to match the original roof covering from a conservation point of view was the principal driver behind selecting Welsh Slate, we were also conscious of the general consensus that the longevity and robustness of a Welsh slate is superior to other options, and given the condition and scale of the project felt that this made it more appropriate,”

Waterloo Mansions Dover Project architect Nathaniel Seall from Architects Hazle McCormack Young LLP

“The Welsh Slate roofing slate performed superbly. It gave the slaters confidence on what they were doing, knowing that the strength and durability of the product is second to none.”

Holy Trinity Church Llandudno Jon Greenough of specialist roofing contractors Greenough & Sons

“The Welsh Slate flooring was specified to match historic finishes within the museum. It lends historic integrity to the proposals and makes the room harmonious with other areas of the museum. It also provides a durable and beautiful finish.” She added “We work on lots of historic and listed British buildings and Welsh Slate is a regular feature in these.”

British Museum London Purcell Architect’s partner Elizabeth Smith

“We specified the Welsh Slate rustic walling for its strength and availability as the brief required traditional stone materials. We prefer to use British wherever possible and find that most of our clients do too. Intense discussions in relation to choice of colour, durability and finishes involved 100% input from this client.

“Slate’s sustainability was also a major selling point to the client who is so satisfied with it they are using it on another upcoming project.”

Contec’s managing director Rob Furse, The Pig Hotel Cornwall

Accreditations /
Trade Associations