From founding father to fireproof foundation block

Marmox (UK) is a British company that provides competitive, high-quality insulation and waterproofing products for the construction and refurbishment industries. Specify & Build reports.

Born a couple of years after The Battle of Britain, when Harry Parsons left school at the age of 16 to begin a course for site managers at the Brixton School of Building in South London, the country was still working on replacing the housing and infrastructure destroyed during the war.

Harry Parsons, Founder of Marmox

Although Harry has always been a very practical person, the maths and science he learned in the late 1950s made this young man’s mind very receptive to new technologies, while he also harboured ambitions for adventure and foreign travel. All of this eventually led to a fateful encounter in Egypt as the Millennium approached. 

Speaking from his home not far from Marmox’s Kent offices, Harry explains: “Having left school in 1958, I got my Ordinary National Certificate from Brixton and began work with firms like Waites Construction in Norbury and then Wimpey as a management trainee. 

“I was with Costain when a story in their house magazine about projects overseas took my interest: but an inquiry indicated the department concerned was only interested in applicants with experience abroad. But, a call from HR a few months later explained they had been let down by an employee for an urgent vacancy, and was I available to go out the following week?”

That unexpected opportunity led to him spending the next 14 years in Nigeria, initially running the ‘small contracts department’ though that euphemistic title covered anything which could be supervised by one Ex-Pat – starting with a gin distillery. 

Harry reflects: “It was the broadest and best education I could have had. I realised I wasn’t equipped for UK building sites but then spotted a vacancy being advertised by a coatings company for a Middle East manager based here. 

“My patch, covered during a series of three week jaunts, stretched from Turkey in the North down to Yemen and as far east as Bangladesh – but it gave me the confidence to think about starting my own business. 

“That step came when I flew into Cairo one night and was asked by my local agent to meet a Dr. Kamal the next morning. It turned out the learned doctor owned multiple businesses and showed me a number of products, including a polyester resin and the coated XPS insulation that has come to be known as Multiboard. I was surprised to be told it sold well in Germany, but that the UK was a difficult market, so I arranged for him to send me some samples I could show around when I returned home.”

Harry started Marmox from his garage in the spring of 2000. In 2005 he moved from his first small office in Rochester into the 4,000ft2 Laker Road premises before, in 2010, the company took over its current Caxton House headquarters, which offers quadruple the storage for pallets and now accommodates 16 staff. 

The early years saw Showerlay and Soundboard added to the range, then Thermoblock proved a landmark in 2010 by tackling cold-bridging. Innovation continues apace with the A1 rated Fireboard, introduced two years ago, and a fireproof version of the floor-wall Thermoblock, which is now awaiting BBA approval.