Spicer Tiles gained its matchless reputation by producing and supplying genuine handmade clay tiles of quality for 35 years. Now, Spicer Tiles closely monitors the production of all of its products from factories around the world, paying close attention to quality, production processes, responsibly practices, staff well-being, and environmental sustainability. Choosing a genuine handmade clay roof tile is a sure sign of care and consideration to your project.
To date the Spicer family still play an active role in the business, instilling the mantra of ‘imperfect, but perfect’ in all our ventures.
Timeline
1960
Roman influence
Roman attention to detail and engineering genius has long been an inspiration to those of us who follow in their footsteps, and the first handmade tiles would have been made in Britain over two millennia ago. Some might suggest we are pushing our luck claiming that as a start point,..Read More
1979
The Beginning
Andrew Spicer left school and started his career in the roofing industry at the tender age of 15. Shortly after, he was disciplined by his boss for throwing old pegs in the skip, without realising their true value. From this point on Andrew wondered why something so old and rustic..Read More
1987
The Discovery
After years of wondering how they were made, and no access to the internet Andrew was on a forest walk with a friend when he noticed a spot where a fire once was. The earth around the fire was brown in colour, the closer to the centre of the fire,..Read More
1988
Fired Clay
Andrew decided to test the theory of the fired clay. He made a tile out of wet clay and put it into a garden fire to make his finished product. This tile exploded, heating up too quickly, sealing the outside and not allowing the moisture to escape. He there, realised..Read More
1989
Spicer Tiles Begins
Andrew and Jane decided there could be a viable business in producing roof tiles, and with the help of Jane’s parents, Ray and Cynthia, they created Spicer Tiles and moved into our first business premises in Wittersham, located in rural Kent. We sourced a gas kiln from Wales and started..Read More
1990
Expand To Meet Demand
Business took off and Spicer Tiles employed 3 people to keep up with demand, supplying the roofing community with traditional brand new Kent peg tiles and fittings, produced to look old.
1991
The Storm
After a moderate storm, part of the roof on the production facility collapsed, but due to high demand of tiles caused by the storm we had no staff available to fix it for weeks.
1994
Moving To A Chicken Farm
Spicer Tiles outgrew the premises in Wittersham and needed to expand to keep up with demand. We found an old chicken farm in Bethersden with ample yard space and decided to make the move, installing the gas kiln from Wittersham but also installing two second hand electric kilns to increase..Read More
1999
New Kiln
A new gas kiln was installed to replace the old kiln, this time slightly bigger to once again cater for increased demand. By this point, we had 8 employees and was running at full capacity, producing 30,000 tiles per month.
2011
Adam Joins
After being around the family business his whole life, it was time for Spicer Tiles to officially employ Adam Spicer, son of Andrew and Jane. Adam was a tile moulder for 2 years then moved on to other areas of production until eventually moving to a sales role within the..Read More
2012
Experimenting With Sawdust
We decided it was time to experiment with something new. We had an unlimited supply of sawdust from local saw mills, and an idea to use it as fuel to fire a kiln. We developed a kiln with a high power fan and a combustion chamber to ignite the sawdust...Read More
2013
Grow Again
After much experimentation it was concluded that a sawdust firing kiln could not give a consistent firing without considerable investment in space and machinery to ensure the continuous quality of sawdust. But with the ever-burning enthusiasm to produce more tiles. We decided it was time to grow again.
2014
Rebrand & Relocate
Joining with another company, the Spicer’s expanded, rebranded, and relocated to New Romney, with 21,000 sq/ft of inside working area and 10,000 sq/ft of yard space. Adding additional tiles, with a range of widely accepted sand-faced tiles, the company now employed 45 people and had a facility capable of producing..Read More
2017
Improving Quality
Heavy investment meant we could invest in state of the art clay preparation and a brand new electric kiln, reducing waste and improving product quality.
2018
The Spicer’s
The Spicer’s reverted back to being a family business, and once again used the trading name which was a well-known and trusted name within the industry – Spicer Tiles. Trading from the same premises in New Romney, the Spicer’s invite anyone along for a factory tour to see the love..Read More
2022
Energy Crisis of 2022
We have always been a proud British based firm and a supporter of British business. But then came the energy crisis and we were left with three options: Raise our prices, go out of business, or source our tiles from countries less effected. After touring the world Adam found a..Read More
