Alistair Houghton meets PHILL MILLWARD, managing director of CGI International

THE secret of CGI International’s success is impossible to see – but, as a glass manufacturer, that’s precisely the point.

Haydock-based CGI, led by managing director Phill Millward, makes fire-resistant glass that is sold around the globe and been used in some of the world’s most high-profile building projects.

The key to many of its products, says Millward, is the “interlayer” polymer that its workers carefully inject between sheets of flat glass to create its specialist products, which can be up to two inches thick while remaining as crystal clear as the thinnest pane.

As architects and designers become ever more demanding, CGI needs to keep expanding its product range and pushing the limits of its technology.

And, taking visitors round CGI’s purpose-built plant, the ever-enthusiastic Millward loves pointing out the company’s new research laboratory where chemist Dr Vince Crook is charged with further improving the performance of its Pyroguard range.

Dr Crook’s recruitment is part of a £200,000 investment in R&D that Millward believes will help the company to continue to thrive, despite the slowdown in the construction market.

He said: “We’ve got a good product, but we believe the demands of the market are getting greater and greater. They want bigger sizes of glass, or to test it for different applications. The demand for more applications is always there.

“What we’ve done is brought in an R&D guy who specialises in fire-retardant polymers.

“Glass will continue to prove a popular design feature of modern buildings as it harnesses natural light and allows for the combination of old and new architecture.

“Constantly investing in R&D enables CGI to effectively meet burgeoning market demand and the evolving and ambitious plans of architects.”