Our Story
Learn more about SuperFOIL's history and our future plans
Our history
Basketball and loudspeakers aren’t the first thing you’d connect with the manufacture of insulation, but this is where the SuperFOIL story begins.
After selling up their healthcare business in the early 1990s, Craig and Alison Bown set up our parent company, Boulder Developments Ltd in 1997.
Before SuperFOIL was founded, Craig and Alison dabbled in a wide range of business ventures, including environmental ground testing and providing audio services for the likes of the Millennium Dome. They also owned a professional basketball team, the Birmingham Bullets.
Touring the globe with the Bullets, the couple built up good contacts with businesses in America and China - including a clothing export business that produced the team’s basketball kits - which proved particularly adept at stitching. More on that later...
From eBay to today
The idea to form an insulation company was born when Craig decided to buy a farm as a self-build renovation project. He wasn’t impressed by any of the insulation options that were currently available on the market, so decided to do some more research into making his own products. With glass wool being the most commonly used insulation on the market, it was important that they could produce a product that offered high performance and flexibility whilst remaining affordable and cost effective.
Making use of the stitching skills of their basketball kit supplier, Craig initially made enough to supply his own home and sold the remaining units on eBay, where the product proved to be extremely popular. From here, Craig went on to sell anywhere between £4000 - £60,000 each month while starting to build a proper business. He firstly sold just within the UK, before being approached by a Dutch customer, who has since been distributing the products in the Netherlands for over 15 years.
And with that, Boulder Developments Ltd and later, SuperFOIL Insulation were born. Craig and his son, William Bown, worked initially from a home office between them until this became full and they required extra space for their stock and employees. They then expanded to a service warehouse near Newark in Nottinghamshire - however, this was soon outgrown once again!
The firm then moved to a larger facility near Tuxford, which became the business’ first proper Headquarters - signing a five year lease. However, after just two years, SuperFOIL outgrew the premises and decided to relocate to a five acre facility in Lincoln, which is where we are currently based today.
In 2017, Will Bown took over as Managing Director - with Craig still remaining very much involved in overseeing the business.
Fast forward to the present day - we have since grown from a team of 8 to over 40 employees, producing hundreds of square kilometres of insulation each year.
Future plans
We want more and more properties to be insulated with the best performing insulation for the most cost effective price. That means helping developers, builders, architects, restorers and DIY enthusiasts to discover the advantages of multifoil over foam board, glass wool and other insulation materials.
High performing, easy to fit without PPE, flexible, compact, long-lasting and multi-functional, we hope to make our foil insulation products the go-to choice for responsible and forward thinking customers.
SuperFOIL Insulation continues to grow and expand, with ambitions to make SuperFOIL a mainstream product. However, there’s still a long way to go - with insulation being a £1 billion+ industry within the UK that’s dominated by a small number of major manufacturers - but, we’re confident in our products and our team and we’re on a mission to transform the industry.
Ultimately, our aim is to help our customers to cut their carbon emissions and reduce heating costs whilst being sustainable and kinder to the environment. We also want to continue to grow our UK manufacturing supply chain - making more of our products here.
We have some big ambitions for SuperFOIL Insulation - so watch this space!
Get in touch today!