Building strength Weber Norway

BUILDING STRENGTH

Leading global supplier of building materials Weber is launching a new product this spring, bringing its famous Leca brand to an even wider audience. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to the sales director for Weber Norway Carl, Petter Simonsen, to find out more.

The globally active Weber Group has been developing and supplying building materials for over 100 years – since it was founded in Paris in 1900. In the early days, Weber produced a gypsum and lime-based façade render, and it is still this family of products that is offered today, with Weber’s portfolio including a complete range of easy-to-apply products for the building and construction industries worldwide. Products such as flooring systems, tile fixing and construction mortars join Weber’s well-known façade materials, with all products developed and manufactured using advanced formulation technology in order to meet the highest technical requirements.

Today, Weber has a large network of over 200 production units in 42 countries worldwide, giving it an unrivalled global footprint. Carl Petter Simonsen is the sales director for Weber Norway and he spoke to Industry Europe about how his division fits into the Group. He said, “As part of a large, globally acting Group, we have incredible access to resources and innovation. It means we are always able to stay openminded with regards to developing new ideas and staying customer focused. But what I think is also a true advantage that, in my experience, is unique to Weber is that there is a real will to develop ourselves and our products, and being part of a financially successful multinational group means we have the possibility to make this happen on a regular basis.”

The most well-known of the brands of the Weber Group is Leca, a lightweight expanded clay aggregate used for a wide ranging of building applications and typically made into solid blocks for construction purposes. While it is not so well known outside Norway, where it is primarily used in its raw material state, inside Norway it is a different matter, where the blocks are very popular. Mr Simonsen explained, “The Leca brand is so famous in Norway; it is synonymous with solid, reliable quality. I even heard it used to describe a defender in a football game on television! In fact, Leca is more widely known than Weber as a brand in Norway. The Norwegian building and construction industry has loved Leca blocks for decades and, as a long-established company, the Leca brand truly underpins our reputation for reliable products.”

New Leca

With such an impressive reputation, it is unsurprising that the launch of the first new Leca product for over 20 years is creating quite a stir in Norway. The company is keen to ensure that it draws on the strength of Leca’s reputation with the launch of its ‘new generation Leca’ blocks. Mr Simonsen continued, “The new Leca is so much faster to use it delivers really effective construction applications.”

The myriad benefits of the new Leca include its better breathability as a building material. Described as ‘comfortable and

healthy’, Weber expects that homes and buildings constructed from its Leca blocks will better avoid damp and mould, making it ideal as a material for building social housing and domestic housing in colder environments.

The new Leca launch is creating such a stir in Norway that Weber Norway is having its own press day, with many industry and general magazines and publications keen to cover the event. Mr Simonsen continued, “It’s hard to explain if you’re not from Norway, but this really is a big deal! As the first new Leca product in more than 20 years people are excited to see what we have created. And I’m pleased to say the new Leca is really impressive so the €1.5 million we’ve spent just on the marketing launch is going to be well worth it.” Expansion

The new Leca has been developed by the Weber Group in what it calls its ‘federal organisation’; a carefully selected group of highly experienced experts across the Group’s divisions and based at the Paris head office. Representatives of each of Weber’s offices worldwide come together to ensure that their sophisticated expertise is used to its best commercial advantage. Mr Simonsen added, “We really have got the best of both worlds. A long-established organisation with a product that’s famous for its strength and performance working alongside a passion for innovation – and the resources to make both of these the best they can be. I have to say there’s a real dedication to and a belief in Weber that runs through the whole company, and I think the reason for that is we all know we offer a really great product with the support system to back it up.”

As part of the Weber Group’s ongoing global expansion and development plan, Mr Simonsen explained how the Leca brand is expected to be pushed in new markets in the coming years. Already available in parts of Europe, the new Leca will be available in global markets including eastern Europe and the USA soon. The ‘federal organisation’ is working to develop ever-more customerdriven solutions, with the ‘happy, healthy’ new Leca set to change how buildings are built worldwide. n