THE new owner of Superglass has revealed plans to double the capacity of the insulation manufacturer’s Stirling plant – less than two weeks after the takeover was rubber-stamped by shareholders.

TechnoNICOL, the Cyprus-registered company of Russian building materials magnate Sergey Kolesnikov, has announced that it will invest between £4 million and £5m to build a new furnace at the plant, raising the annual output capacity of the site to at least 55,000 tonnes.

The added capacity, which TechnoNICOL hopes to bring in stream by 2019 or 2020, will be used to power the expansion of Superglass around the UK and into western European markets, where the Russian company has a strong presence and distribution network.

The investment comes shortly after TechnoNICOL completed the £8.7 million acquisition of the Scottish firm.

It is expected that the expansion will lead to more jobs being added to the Superglass headcount, which currently numbers 150 in Stirling, with the initial addition likely to be in sales and marketing positions.

Mr Kolesnikov, who met Superglass staff for the first time yesterday, addressing them in English, said the opportunity for TechnoNICOL to gain the technology to make insulation made from glass wool was a key attraction behind the Superglass acquisition. He raised the prospect of TechnoNICOL building glass wool insulation plants in eastern Europe, which he cited, alongside Scandinavia, Poland and the Baltic nations, as markets he hopes to take Superglass into.

TechnoNICOL is the world’s second biggest producer of stone wool insulation behind Rockwool, producing 850,000 tonnes per year.

Mr Kolesnikov said: “In the next three years the main challenge is to expand business in Scotland to reach 55,000 [tonnes] production on this production site, because one of the main features of our company is low cost products and very high quality.

“I think this project could reach the lowest cost in comparison with our main competitors – Saint Gobain and Knauf.”

Adding that he hopes to be able cut prices by as much as 10 per cent, a strategy expected to boost Superglass’ export business, Mr Kolesnikov added: “I think Brexit helped me a little bit in my strategy.”

Asked whether the result of the EU referendum had any influence on his decision to Superglass, Mr Kolesnikov said that, while the Brexit result had been unexpected, talks between the two parties had begun in April, well ahead of the June 23 vote.

Superglass chief executive Ken Munro revealed that when he and Mr Kolesnikov met in Larnaca on the day of the vote, both expected the Remain camp to win.

“But I don’t think it shook our confidence in the agreement at all,” Mr Munro said.

Mr Kolesnikov noted: “I saved 10 per cent on the acquisition because I usually keep my money in United States and roubles. Afterwards I decided, [it’s a] 10 per cent discount, why not?”

Mr Munro reiterated his view that the cash investment provided TechnoNICOL will “turbocharge” the growth trajectory the Scottish firm had been on prior to the deal. He added that the prospect of distributing the Russian company’s diverse range of roofing and insulation products around the UK and Europe was “equally exciting”.

TechnoNICOL, which has 40 manufacturing sites in six countries, has a 3,000-strong range of building construction products, compared with the 80 SKUs (stock keeping units) held by Superglass.

Mr Munro, who hopes Superglass will begin distributing TechnoNICOL products within this calendar year said: “It’s very exciting to be part of such a formidable organisation in terms of scale. Our challenge is to maintain the agility and flexibility and responsiveness that drove success around the Superglass brand in the UK.”