NIA appoints new Solid Wall Insulation Governing Council

The National Insulation Association (NIA) has appointed a new Solid Wall Insulation Council made up of leading industry figures to support its drive to expand the solid wall insulation market and opportunities for its members.  

The new Council is as follows:

Derek Horrocks - Sustainable Building Services (UK) Ltd - Chair

David Lawrence - Lawtech Ltd – Vice Chair

Mike Easdon - InBuild Solutions Ltd

Sean Stevenson - Westville Ltd

Tony Hardiman - Dyson Energy Services Ltd

David Robson - InstaGroup Ltd

Pádraig Barry - Saint-Gobain Weber Ltd

Gary Bundy - Sto Ltd

Bob Deane - Wetherby Building Systems Ltd
Paul Winwood - SPS Envirowall Ltd

Neil Marshall, Chief Executive of the NIA commented; “I very much look forward to working with the new Council over the coming two years in driving forward our ambitious plans to grow the market, strengthen quality and standards across the industry and support our members in maximising business opportunities.

The NIA is the leading trade association for solid wall insulation in the UK with its members including the major manufacturers, system designers and installers of both external and internal wall insulation.

Companies wishing to join the NIA should contact Bev Coombe by email

bev.coombe@nia-uk.org or call 01525 383313

Negative Reporting on Cavity Wall Insulation by the BBC

Last week both BBC Radio 4 You & Yours and BBC Wales Today featured negative programmes on Cavity Wall Insulation based on an incomplete draft report from BRE.

The insulation industry welcomes scrutiny and the publication of robust research which helps to identify areas for improvement. That’s why we have been working to support BRE as it develops its research, and will continue to do so.

However, BRE has been clear that the report referenced by the BBC is an early draft of a scoping report which carries no status and the reporting of this draft study now risks alarming and seriously misleading consumers.

The reality is that there is a very low rate of problems with cavity wall insulation in the UK. Just 0.21% of all 6 million installations guaranteed by CIGA, the UK’s largest cavity wall insulation guarantee agency, result in a claim. When something does go wrong, that guarantee acts as a back-stop to protect consumers and ensure they have access to redress. In Wales, that rate is slightly higher at 0.59% of all installations but still significantly below the rate suggested in the draft study seen by the BBC.

The NIA responded to both programmes expressing our concern at the use of content from the BRE draft report which we consider to be both irresponsible and misleading and setting out details of the very low rate of problems with CWI. 

Insulation is an exceptionally reliable product which keeps energy bills down and homes warm