DSF News

[13/11/25]Project Complete! New Automatic Refractory Brick Press Commences Operation

A collaborative partnership between DSF and Siemens, founded on trust, hard work, and diligence, has successfully delivered a project three years in the making. Following two years of planning and due diligence, our incredible suppliers started site preparation and installation.

With the first shovels in the ground in January 2025, Robinsons Longcliffe managed the new building construction, while Street Crane supplied and installed the hoist system. Hunter Engineering delivered high-quality steel hoppers, expertly designed the flooring, and oversaw the intricate civil engineering works with Beighton’s. Laeis brought decades of refractory brick pressing experience to the project, providing superb equipment and exceptional support. Special thanks go to Nico and Ollie for their expertise in getting the press up and running, and to Bastian Jüngling for his invaluable support during the early stages. Without Bastian’s passion and deep knowledge of the equipment he supplied, this project would not have become a reality.

Kautenburger demonstrated outstanding engineering capability and a genuine can-do attitude throughout. Christian and Michael were consistently focused on delivering effective solutions — truly the best automation solutions provider we’ve had the pleasure of working with.

Finally, a big thank you to Siemens for their crucial role. Jeremy and Stephan showed exceptional leadership in project development, at times it genuinely felt like they were part of DSF, and Megan and Craig provided expert project management that ensured the project was delivered on time and incident free.

Together with our fantastic team at DSF, we couldn’t be prouder of what we have achieved!

The purchase of the new press has been made possible by £100,000 of Grant funding from the Invest to Grow funding programme via the University of Derby which will enable DSF to develop new products and grow its business into the future. DSF are very thankful to the Invest to Grow team for their help and support in this journey.

[13/11/25] DSF supply Guyanan RASC Bauxite for large bridge project

DSF have supplied Guyanan RASC Bauxite for many years for use as the final surface on road bridges, foot bridges, roll-on roll off ramps and other areas where a hard-wearing and non-slip surface is required. DSF uses specialist screening equipment to produce consistently sized materials with a low dust content for use in these types of applications. When used in conjunction with the correct resin systems it can be used as the final wearing course on asphalt, concrete or steel structures.

Recently one of our customers selected our 1.40 – 3.55 mm road grade for application to a new road bridge. DSF’s Guyanan RASC Bauxite was chosen to complete the road surface due to its high friction and superior anti-slip properties.

In total DSF supplied over 60 tonnes which was used to surface over 7400 m2

[10/10/25] Ceramic Industry, Pledge Conference & Awards.

DSF’s Safety, Health, and Environmental apprentice, Holly Clarke-Kellow, was delighted to win an award for Emerging Talent in Health & Safety, at the 25th Anniversary of the Ceramic Industry, Pledge Conference & Awards 2025.

Holly joined DSF in October 2024. Having come from a catering background, Holly had limited, or no knowledge of the job role and subsequent career change she was about to embark on. However, Holly has embraced and excelled in her role as Safety, Health & Environmental Trainee and thoroughly earned the nomination for the award.

DSF also received company awards for their Initiative in Implementing a Comprehensive Site Traffic Management Plan, and for their Leadership in Health and Safety Culture. Russ Ferns DSF’s Compliance Manager and Mike Andrew, Mineral Processing Team Leader, collected these awards on behalf of DSF.

[15/09/25] Glasspex India 2025.

Thank you to everyone who came to our stand at Glasspex India last week. It was an enjoyable event and we would like to send our heartfelt thanks to our customers, industry partners and friends who came by our stand.

We look forward to carrying on the conversations and meeting you all again soon.

[09/09/25] New automatic press update.

It's been an exciting week at DSF with the delivery of our new automatic brick press and mixer. The start of installation is a milestone, not only in this project, but in the overall site development plans we set out 18 months ago.

The project is ahead of schedule and we hope to commission the press at the end of September.

[08/09/25] DSF continue to invest in a safer, greener future.

This week DSF have taken delivery of eight new, electric, Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks from Endeavour Forklifts. These vehicles are supplied with state-of-the-art safety systems and fleet management software.

This now confirms that DSF have replaced all their diesel forklift trucks and are running a 100% electric fleet, a huge step forward in the company’s sustainability journey.

Russ Ferns, DSF’s Compliance Manager, said, “this deal will help us drive down our carbon emissions, costs and further reduce downtime, and at the same time provide a cleaner and safer environment for our employees”.

[29/07/25] Work is almost complete at DSF on new covered storage bins.

Work is almost complete at DSF on new covered storage bins that will give us an extra 2500 tonnes of covered storage for our mineral processing business.

This development will also give us 500m² of palletised storage for our shaped refractories.

This is all part of DSF's phased site improvement strategy.

[02/07/25] Employees had the opportunity to view a 3D simulation of our new LAEIS refractory brick press

It was virtual reality day at DSF today, where all our employees had the opportunity to view a 3D simulation of our new LAEIS refractory brick press.

The civil engineering element of this project is now complete and we are looking forward to delivery of the press parts at the end of August for installation in September.

Thanks to Siemens Jeremy Chang and Aravinda Barar for hosting the VR day, it was great to see everyone get a peek of what the finished installation will look like.

[30/06/25] DSF’s Guyanan RASC Bauxite has many uses and was recently spotted on the Wainwright’s Coast-to-Coast path by DSF’s Minerals Director, Chris Whelpton.

DSF’s Guyanan RASC Bauxite has many uses and was recently spotted on the Wainwright’s Coast-to-Coast path by DSF’s Minerals Director, Chris Whelpton.

The Coast-to-Coast walk begins on the cliff tops of St Bees, overlooking the Irish Sea on the west coast of the UK. The path then meanders across the fells and dales of the Lake District, and over the North Yorkshire Moors, before concluding, 190 miles later, at the quaint village of Robin Hoods Bay on the east coast.

As part of improvements to the footpath from Kirkby Stephen to Nine Standards Rigg, a new footbridge has been installed. On each of the decking boards there are two strips of Guyanan RASC Bauxite that have been installed to eliminate slip hazards when crossing the bridge in wet conditions.

[22/06/25] SANDS DSF's 2025/26 charity.

DSF is proud to have chosen Sands, Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society, as it’s 2025/26 charity.

SANDS offers support to anyone affected by pregnancy loss and aims to support bereaved families and save babies lives. This is an issue that has sadly impacted multiple people at DSF.

More information about this very worthwhile charity can be found at

www.sands.org.uk/

www.facebook.com/sandscharity

[22/05/25] Site investment at DSF.

Work is well under way here at DSF on the installation of a new 1600T Hydraulic Automatic Press supplied by Laeis. Building work is complete and sitework has started with foundations laid and steel work going in. Siemens are managing the project, with commissioning of the new press planned for the start of November.

This major investment will reduce manual handling, increase refractory brick production and open up new business opportunities.

[04/05/25] Biofuel trial successfully completed at DSF.

As part of our sustainability strategy, DSF are evaluating alternative fuels for firing refractory materials at our site in Derbyshire, UK. A £6 million alternative fuel project led by Glass Futures has brought together DSF with major glassmakers, Ardagh, Encirc, O-I and NSG, to assess the viability of utilising alternative renewable liquid fuels. Supported by the UK Government, the project aims to prove scalable solutions that could benefit the entire glass and ceramics industries.

DSF currently uses natural gas (NG) and industrial heating oil (IHO) to provide energy for our various kilns and driers. Biofuel in this trial was assessed as a potential alternative to IHO. The trial aimed to evaluate the efficiency, environmental impact and operational feasibility of using biofuel oil (BFO) compared to our traditional fuel.

The trial results indicated that BFO offers several advantages over IHO in terms of efficiency and emissions. BFO demonstrated a lower fuel usage rate, indicating higher energy efficiency. Additionally BFO produced significantly lower emissions with reductions in CO2, NOx and SOx levels. BFO mimicked our current fuel and firing temperature gradient rates, but we were not able to use the fuel below 1000 degrees C.

This trial, the first of its kind in the UK by a refractory producer, has shown that BFO is a promising alternative to IHO and could be part of the portfolio of strategies used in DSF's commitment to achieving net zero by 2050.

[01/02/25] DSF Visit to Parliament

DSF’s Managing Director, Paul Hutchinson, was invited to a parliamentary dinner at the House of Commons last week, organised by Ceramics UK. It was an opportunity for members of Ceramics UK to speak with Sarah Jones, Minister of State for Industry, and other MPs attending, about the many issues manufacturers in energy intensive industries face in the UK. Topics including high energy costs, the costs of decarbonisation, tax increases, tariffs and CBAM were covered.

The event was hosted by Mr Gareth Snell MP, who kindly gave members a very informative tour of the House of Commons. Thank you to the team at Ceramics UK, including Rachel Timmins and Robert Flello, for organising the event and all the MPs who attended and listened to our concerns.

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