About Stowell Concrete

Roger Stowell, who was born in 1939, began what became Stowell Concrete in September 1959, in a field behind the family farmhouse in the village of Kenn, near Clevedon. He was the youngest of four children, and unlikely to inherit the farm, so he explored agricultural contracting, he also bought a small block machine which made five blocks at a time to use when the contracting was quiet.

Concrete blocks took off, and Roger continued investing in his block making equipment rather than his agricultural equipment. When he was confident in block making, he bought his first land at Yatton in 1968 and moved the block production there; he then installed hydraulic wet presses to produce commercial slabs in the yard at Kenn.

Roger met his future wife, Margaret Gillard, on Clevedon Pier on Easter Monday in 1960, and they were married in 1964. By 1968, they had three children and were living in the old farmhouse with the concrete works behind.

The Holcombe yard was purchased from the receivers in 1979 to expand the wet pressing further, adding kerbs, edgings and channels to the range. The former owners, Bristol Stone and Concrete, had specialised in bespoke concrete products, where Stowell Concrete has always made standard products for stock.

Land adjoining the Yatton works was purchased at every opportunity so that a total of 30 acres is owned there, this has allowed Stowell Concrete to expand the yard five more times over the years. The small Kenn operation, including the head office, was incorporated into the Yatton yard in June 1996.

Tragically Roger died suddenly in January 1997. Margaret and her eldest son Vince, who had been working in the business full time since he was 17, together with their long term loyal workforce, we’re able to continue as the company was in good shape. Vince was promptly made Managing Director.

A small block yard was purchased in Weston-super-Mare from a competitor in 2001. Two years later, an opportunity came up to rent space in one of the quarries supplying Stowell Concrete, so employees and machinery were moved there from Weston to reduce the logistics’ costs. The Shipham block plant is in Callow Rock Quarry, who also have their block making operation in the same quarry, with whom Stowell Concrete competes.

Stowell Concrete has been making pre-stressed T Beams since 1997, so in 2006 thought hollow-core was a natural progression to utilise the Weston site. However, hollow-core turned out to be too involved, and both the machinery and later the Weston site was sold.

Early in 2019 Vince’s daughter Beth, who is the oldest of the third generation, accompanied her father with Stowell Concrete's senior maintenance engineer and the Columbia block machine representative on a fact-finding trip around Canada and USA for a week. They looked at Columbia’s factory and their block machines. They had many discussions on what products the machinery could manufacture to add to the already extensive range of Stowell Concrete’s products.

A Columbia block machine and associated machinery was subsequently ordered and is currently being installed at Yatton, which finally utilises all of the available land. The machinery will be able to produce a vast range of additional products, which over the next five years (with Phase 2, which is already designed) could potentially double the current turnover.

As Stowell Concrete is Somerset based and close to both the Mendip quarries and South-West ports it should always be most competitive in the South West but regularly supplies the South East, South Wales and the Midlands, if logistics allow, the product can be supplied further afield.

Stowell Concrete has developed to supply builders merchant’s yards and sites though the builders’ merchants in full lorry loads, generally within two or three days of ordering. Stowell Concrete aims to run with healthy stocks of all of its products, both to give its workforce regular employment throughout the year and to reduce the need for the merchants to carry large inventories.

Continued investment and expansion meant that Stowell Concrete can continue to remain competitive and establish itself as a recognised business within the building, landscaping and civil engineering industries.