One of Pembrokeshire’s most popular and well-established businesses is celebrating a milestone anniversary.

Seventy years ago, the county’s oldest block and brick manufacturer was established at Green Farm, East Williamston, by the late Jack Williams.

Seven decades later and under the leadership of Jack’s grandson Jonathan, Trubloc are still supplying West Wales with a full range of quality building blocks, sand, stone and cement.

It was back in the post Second World War time of November 1946 that along with two members of staff, Jack Williams, of Truman’s Park Farm - hence the business name Trubloc - began producing concrete blocks, one at a time by hand. A good day would see 250 blocks being made.

The quality was such that the business soon took off and expansion was required, with Trubloc duly moving to Springfield Yard in Broadmoor.

Extra staff and new machinery meant that Jack began making 3,000 blocks a day to try to keep up with increasing demand.

Family

Business

In 1962, upon leaving the RAF, Jack’s son, John (soon to be known as John Trubloc) joined the firm, and two years later, a new concrete works was opened in Coygen Quarry, Laugharne, to complement the Broadmoor site. Bigger mixers and now a workforce of four meant production was up to 6,000 blocks a day. More lorries were needed to move them, all loaded and unloaded by hand.

In 1969, the business took over the concrete works on Carew Airfield, the Broadmoor site was closed and Carew and Laugharne became the two operating centres. It was during the 1970s that the family decided to close the Laugharne depot and concentrate solely on the Carew site; this decision was an obvious success as Carew Airfield remains the existing location to this day.

Expansion and Investment

1983 saw a third generation join the firm after Jonathan (John’s son) had completed a four-year apprenticeship at Pembroke Power Station.

This period heralded a time of rapid expansion, as new, faster machines and increased staff enabled the business to producing a staggering 20,000 blocks per day - equivalent to six bungalows!

Due to this dramatic rise in production, new delivery vehicles were invested in, now with hydraulic cranes, meaning quicker and better service to the building trade.

Diversification into further building materials was introduced; sand, stone and bagged cement was made available to be delivered alongside the blocks, providing a holistic service. Constant re-investment into the company’s machinery and transportation has been made; a new fully automatic block machine was purchased in 2006, the first of its kind in Wales, and only the second in the UK.

In 2008, a fully automatic batching plant was added to the Trubloc family. This not only improved the speed and precision for the manufacturing process up to 30,000 blocks a day, but it allowed Trubloc to cater for an ever-increasing customer base, which now covers three counties - Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.  An automatic strapping and stacking machine was purchased in 2012, with a second fully automatic block machine following. This took pressure off the existing machine, and allows Trubloc to have two different products available to be manufactured simultaneously.

To mark the 70th anniversary, a new plant upgrade will be completed by the end of the year, while two brand new lorries will also be added to the vehicle fleet. One of which is due any day now!

Welcoming a fourth generation

It is down to their valued customers that Trubloc has recently been pleased to welcome the fourth generation of the Williams family into the business - Whitney (Jonathan’s daughter). An event management graduate from Cardiff University, Whitney, 23, took over the role of office manager from her uncle, Rob Scourfield. Rob, married to Jonathan’s sister Mandy, of nearby Carew Inn fame, worked for the company for 16 valuable years. Fortunately, he’s only a ’phone call away’ should Whitney have any queries as he’s now involved with the pub business. Whitney has added strength and stability to Trubloc’s investment plans and continued development for the long-term.

Seventy years

Seventy years is a long time in any business and Trubloc has come a long way since Jack Williams produced his first concrete block back in 1946. There have been bad times, the subsequent passing of both Jack and John being difficult periods. However, due to the strength of the business, Trubloc has always managed to continue and on reaching 70 years in business, the Williams family would like to thank all who have been associated over the years. Loyal family, staff, customers and suppliers have all greatly contributed and a heartfelt thanks is expressed to them all.