Carlson Filtration Ltd was established in 1923 and has been based at Butts Mill in Barnoldswick, Lancashire since 1950. The company has developed a strong market position in filtration equipment and filtration media in various forms, from depth filter sheets to high performance cartridges.

From the whisky, wine and brewing industries through to the clarification of fruit juices and filtration in the pharmaceutical, chemical and food industries, Carlson Filtration develops, manufactures, markets and distributes a broad range of products to suit all applications.

Originally built in the 1800’s, but extensively altered since then, the company’s home was a former textile mill and, as Managing Director Brian Gabbett explained, it was not without its share of problems.

“It was a typical old fashioned factory with a northlight roof and all the associated access and logistical disadvantages. The northlight roof was supported by cast iron columns. We had a very low roof height, limiting our storage capacity. The rooflights also suffered from UV degradation and had been replaced many times.”

“The thermal efficiency left a lot to be desired too. At times it felt like we were heating half of Barnoldswick in the winter. The roof leaked and we had to issue umbrellas when people visited us in wet weather, which was embarrassing of course.”

“Then about four years ago, we were approached by a developer with a view to purchasing the site and building a supermarket. This was a complicated exercise. Planners ultimately turned down the proposals, but we had carried out a range of feasibility studies that raised questions about our future direction.”

“We are part of a small international group and looked at a number of strategic issues. The outcome of our deliberations was that it was clear that the output and activity of the UK operation was vital for our group's future.”

“We therefore recognised that we needed to find a permanent solution to the problems we had experienced with the existing building. In the past we had patched the roof up, with only limited success. So we asked consulting engineers to look at a long term answer.”

“We could have undertaken further extensive repairs, but gradually began to consider an entirely new building.” “We started building work in May 2010. Indeed production was only ever halted for a few hours as the foundations and steelwork were started.” Once the steelwork was in place, a crash deck and safety netting was installed to maintain a safe working environment during roof construction.

Following this, 100mm Trisomet® 333 System roof panels in Colorcoat® LG in Goosewing Grey and 80mm Trisomet® 333 System wall panels in Colorcoat® LG in Mushroom were installed by Norwest Industrial Roofing Limited of Lowton, Warrington, Cheshire.

The installation took place prior to Carlson Filtration’s traditional summer fortnight shutdown, which was extended by a further week to enable demolition of the old mill to be completed and services to be installed.