Is the Grass Always Greener on the Other Side?

Following the departure of Steve Purcell-Herbert, J W Lewis is on the look out for a replacement. 

Interviews are currently being carried out with potential candidates and we hope to have a replacement in place by the new year.

In addition to this, due to the continual and rapid growth of our trade and domestic sales, a further person is also being sought to enhance the service given to both existing and new customers.  This person will also have a HGV license to replace the one gained by Steve Purcell-Herbert during his employment here.  Again, interviews are being carried out now and we also hope to fill this position in time for our January return.

Barratt Homes x 2

Barratt Homes have awarded  J W Lewis & Sons Ltd the roofing and leadwork contract for Phase 2 at Liskerrett Woods, Liskeard.  After a successful partnership on phase 1, Graham Barker signed the contract today and Barratts expect full steam ahead for roofing in the new year.  

The first photo shows Paul Swiggs removing the lead roll to one of the hips.  This elevation was then totally stripped so that the Architect could inspect the roof timbers. 

Photo 2 + 3 shows the poor condition of other roof slopes.

Photo 4 sees Andrew Barrott inspecting one of the lead flat roofs which requires total replacement.  Andrew was astounded with the size of the chimneys he will have to re-flash.

Photo 5 shows the front elevation of the property at this early stage.

Works will continue today stripping two further elevations.  On completion of all necessary timber repairs and treatment we will then fix Tri-iso 10 insulation, counterbattens and then battening using 38x50mm tanalised batten on Tyvek Supro underlay.  It is anticipated that we will then slate these elevations and complete all the leadwork before we strip off the next elevation.

Further photos will follow as works proceed.

We recently released on this web-site that we were pleased to announce a 4th contract for T&D Carter. 

It is now our pleasure that we can announce we have now been awarded not only our 5th contract, but also our 6th contract with T&D Carter.  Further details on both developments will follow in due course.

We have also secured another specialist roofing contract on another contract for Gordon Derry & Sons Ltd at St Issey using reclaimed Rag Slate.  Due to the tight construction programme, our work on this contract will commence tomorrow.  

Further to previous annoucements made on our website, our contract with GD at Sea Mills, St Issey has now commenced.  Unfortunately because of inclement (and un-predicable) weather, Willapark at Tintagel has been temporarily delayed.   Photos of our works on all these contracts will follow as works proceed.

As most will now be aware, we have a new telephone answering service.  For those who are unsure on how it works, we hope this simplifies it:

Option 1- Steve Purcell-Herbert.  Steve is manager of both our internal and external stores.  He is the man to speak to with regards to product and delivery availability and basic prices.  Please be aware that Steve is also our primary delivery driver so he is not always in the office.  You can also call him on 07715 992118, although if he is driving he will not be able to answer your call.  Leave a message, he will call you back.

Option 2 - Spud Yeomans - As all regular customers are aware, Spud is our Estimator and Buyer.  Anyone who requires his expertise on estimating or prices should request his assistance.  As Spud is our Estimator, he also visits sites and potential clients.  Therefore you can contact him when he is not in the office on 07815 769981.  Again, if unavailable leave a message on either phone.

Option 3 - Graham Barker - Graham is Manager of the Company.  If not in the office you can contact him on 07801 698752.  Again, message leaving facilities on both phones are available.

Option 4 - Margaret Webb - Margaret looks after the internal admin of our Company.  You should contact her should you have any queries on financial matters or messages for the Directors of the Company.  Please be aware that her normal hours are as follows:  Mon + Tues - 9.00am - 3.00pm and Wed to Fri 9.00am - 1.00pm.  These vary depending on office requirements.  

If you are still un-sure who you need to speak to, please ignore the options, hold the line and the next available person will answer your call.  Again, an answering facility is available is no-one is able to take your call.

This system has been brought in to assist our customers achieve direct contact with the person they want.  We hope this facility is to everyone’s satisfaction, although we will appreciate comments both good and bad via e-mail to Graham or Spud.

J W Lewis & Sons Ltd have now been carrying out all roofing work and leadwork for Gordon Derry & Sons Ltd for over ten years.  

Gordon Derry and Sons Ltd were formed in 1934 and are a third generation family business.  They undertake all types of building work such as new builds, barn conversions, extensions, commercial, industrial work, renovations, decorating and demolition. 

GD has just awarded two fantastic contracts to J W Lewis, one at Tintagel, the other at St Issey. 

Willapark Hotel at Tintagel has recently been purchased and is now being converted by Gordon Derry to a residential home.  We have been awarded the contract to replace the roof in its entirety using 20x10 Riverstone natural slate from Argentina.  The contract has also approximately 6 weeks of replacement leadwork which will be carried out by one of our qualified lead technicians.   The start date on this contract is imminent.

Sea Mills at St Issey also requires roof replacement, but all works are specialist.  With both lime bedded scantle slate pitch and vertical slating and dry laid scantle slating with again an enormous amount of highly specialised leadwork to flat roofs, valley gutters etc.  we are looking forward to getting our teeth stuck into this contract in around 2 weeks time.  

Is Price more important over Quality?? – not in these cases.

After successful previous phases, J W Lewis has been awarded the next phase on these housing developments:

David McLean, Launceston – After being awarded both phase 2a & 2b, we are pleased to announce that we have been successful in obtaining the order for phase 3 on this leading Cornish development.  This phase is for 77 dwellings which all house styles including specification and availability can be easily obtained via our links or current contracts pages.  Lafarge Roofing Products also celebrated this order as they have regained the roof tile order which has changed from Marley Modern tiles, (used on phase 2b), back to Mini Stonewold tiles.  Remember chaps - no shorts!!!

St Piran Homes, Camborne – The final twelve dwellings (Phase 3) at Laity Fields were awarded to us without hesitation by St Piran Homes.    Although not successful in obtaining another new development in Camborne, Tony Lewis expressed delight in obtaining this final phase at Laity Fields and is also confident that further opportunities will prove to be more successful on future developments by St Piran Homes.  Site Manager’s Dennis Warder and Brian are thrilled to have use of our services for the roofing work and leadwork on both completion of Phase 2 and the new phase.  Again, links are available for this site from both contracts and links pages.

All at  JWL are overjoyed that we have been awarded with our 4th sub-contract for T & D Carter. 

Following our recent completion at Trebetherick and on-going works at Blisland, T & D Carter have proved that they have confidence in our work by awarding us two further contracts, one at Rock and another at Trebetherick.

MD, Tony Lewis has quoted the following - "This proves that our Company is continuing to improve its already excellent reputation and subsequently the number of our regular contractors continues to increase.  I thank T & D Carter for the opportunity to carry out their roofing requirements and I have every confidence our business relationship will continue to expand."

Word on the street is that there is further news on the horizon.  Watch this space!!

HIAB Training Success

Following his recent success in obtaining his HGV license, we are pleased to announce that Steve PH has now achieved the required HIAB certification.  As well as Steve, both Spud Yeomans and Andrew Barrott were also successful.  

Steve will now carry out all deliveries alongside Tony Lewis.  With both Spud and Andrew in reserve and John Lewis normally available for smaller deliveries, it means that our Company can comfortably fulfill any delivery to suit our customer’s requirements.

Durchbruch für J W Lewis Versorgungsmaterial-Geschäft.

When Graham Barker was informed that an Aldi superstore was to be built in Truro and that there was an outside  possibility of a link to the appointed German roofing contractor, he set his mind on first to communicate with this contractor and then to obtain the supply contract.  This was achieved with numerous e-mails, the assistance of the Marley representative Tim Jackson and very poor attempts at the German language.

After weeks of negotiating, J W Lewis & Sons Ltd was awarded the order for 17,500 Marley Modern tiles with all fittings.   The order was celebrated like the 5-1 drubbing we gave their international football team 4 years ago!

This order has now been successfully delivered and J W Lewis & Sons Ltd look forward to working with their German counterparts on their next contract in the UK.