Across the pond

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn about the differences and similarities between roofing in the U.S. and the UK. 

In this episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Heidi J. Ellsworth sat down with Mardee Billingsley, the executive vice president of the Tremco Construction Products Group. Mardee has worked with Tremco for over 28 years and is part of the team that has been expanding their operations into international markets. This unique position makes Mardee an invaluable resource for insights on the global market.  

There are a lot of considerations when it comes to moving onto a global stage. Things like environment and climate are obvious differences, but there are also distinctions that are less thought of – like regulation differences. Mardee used the UK as an example, “I find the roof systems in Europe to be simpler in a way. Take our FM requirements that must accommodate all the regions of the U.S. as an example. There are thousands of products and systems in there. Alternatively, I remember when I first started going over to the UK in 2004 and it's simply base and a cap.”  

This simplicity can be cited to a variety of reasons, from the UK being smaller than the U.S. and having fewer regional differences to its history of governmental management of industries. One of the big reasons, however, is the weather. Mardee shared, “In the UK, it's a much milder climate. It rains a lot, kind of like the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. So, some of the need for a simple system comes from that. They have a big fluid market because of having to get systems down and cured up faster. Anything they can do to just go and be installed by the end of the day is good because of the weather.”  

And it’s important to note that simplicity does not sacrifice performance. Mardee explained, “These systems are 20-30 year systems. They come with 20-25 year warranties!” At the end of the day, roofing might look a little different across the pond, but there are still many similarities. Mardee explained, “They still use some of the same products we use, it just depends on the solution that they need. The key is just to really listen to what they're saying and what they need. Which works with Tremco’s core philosophy of keeping good roofs good and providing the best solution to meet the customer's needs for longevity, financial investment and technical requirements. 

Read the transcript or Listen to the entire podcast to learn more about Tremco and roofing on the global stage.