It’s now been a quarter of a century since our parent company, Boulder Developments was founded.
A family business from the start, Boulder Developments Ltd was established in December 1997 by Craig and Alison Bown and is the parent company of SuperFOIL Insulation, as well as Treefloor and Ventilation Megastore.
We are very proud to be celebrating 25 years since the firm was first established.
Where it all began
Craig and Alison sold their healthcare business in the early 1990s and worked on various different ventures. As part of their time in the audio industry, they owned a professional basketball team – the ‘Birmingham Bullets’. The couple toured China, Europe and America with the team, being introduced to some great contacts from a range of different industries.
They were then connected to a clothing export business – that was producing the basketball team uniforms – which led them into stitching for quilts and insulation. It was around this time that Craig then invested in a self-build house project – Black Horse Farm.
The first SuperFOIL
Whilst undertaking the renovation, Craig was on the lookout for insulation for the property and wasn’t impressed by what was on the market. He researched other options, which led him to multifoil insulation. Realising the versatility of multifoil and its high performance, Craig was impressed, but he wasn’t keen on the price or the range of products available so he decided to make his own.
The first multifoil rolls worked great and he even had extra going spare after insulating his new home, so he sold the rest on Ebay. This was so successful that Craig continued to make and resell his products on Ebay, selling anywhere between the value of £4,000 to £60,000 each month – becoming a proper business venture.
Initially, Craig sold the products solely within the UK, but he later began to supply to the Netherlands through an exclusive Dutch customer, Cees. The customer was building his own house and required eight rolls of insulation, however decided to buy a pallet’s worth of product With our blessing, he too then sold the rest on Ebay, repeating the process of buying the insulation from Craig and selling it on.
Eventually, Craig’s company became known as SuperFOIL Insulation in 2006 and became a distinct company within the Boulder Developments group.
SuperFOIL Insulation takes off
The team – including Craig’s son Will Bown – worked from their own homes before establishing an office between them. The company continued to grow until this office became full, along with a service warehouse in Newark.
Once again, we outgrew the Newark premises and had to relocate just two weeks before Christmas! Craig and Will found a larger warehouse in Tuxford – finding anyone they could to help to transport twelve truckloads of stock from Newark. This became their first official HQ and, despite signing a five year lease, the company was growing so fast that we needed a bigger site within two years.
Due to even more growth and expansion, the team then moved to a new headquarters based in Lincoln, which is where SuperFOIL is today.
Will Bown, Craig and Alison’s son, took over as Managing Director of SuperFOIL Insulation in 2017 – with just a team of eight when he began.
The company now employs over 40 members of staff and we’re expanding our premises all the time to keep up with demand.
Plans for the future
Boulder Developments has great plans for the future – ultimately, the aim is to keep growing and expanding to make SuperFOIL a mainstream product.
At the rate we’re growing, we’re on track to have a team of 60+ people in four years’ time and we’re producing more and more insulation every year.
While Will has taken over as Managing Director, Craig remains very much involved and at the heart of the business – assisting with key decisions and growth strategies.
The business has ambitious plans to keep expanding and producing more insulation in the UK throughout 2023 and beyond.
We’re really proud of what our incredible team has been able to achieve in their journey so far. Here’s to the next 25 years of Boulder Developments!
