FROM THE PIPER BRICK FACTORY TO THE RANDERS TEGL GROUP

CARL PIPER'S FIRST BRICK FACTORY

In 1911, the Danish engineer Carl Theodor Piper acquired the brick factory in the Danish city of Viborg. The clay wasn't of the best quality, so in 1917 Carl Piper bought an area with first class clay, at Stoholm, close to Højslev, and built another brick factory there.

In 1949, Carl Piper and his son, Preben, decided to close the factory in Stoholm and to build a new factory in Mønsted instead. This brick factory was one of the first in Denmark to work the whole year long, using heated drying rooms instead of drying barns out in the open. The brick factory in Mønsted burned in 1952. Instead of rebuilding it, Preben Piper decided to build a new and by far more mechanized brick factory to the South of Hammershøj, where he could find great quantities of good quality clay. The brick factory in Hammershøj became one of the biggest in Northern Europe.

THE GANDRUP BRICK FACTORY

In 1967, Preben Piper bought the Gandrup brick factory. In the '70s, besides the already existing brick factory, he built another, and then, in 1988, a third. The Gandrup brick factory is nowadays Northern Europe's biggest brick factory, with a capacity of approx. 75 million bricks per year.

THE HØJSLEV BRICK FACTORY - A SUCCESS FROM THE START

At the beginning of the '80s, during the Danish building crisis, Piper's brick factories, at that time was lead by the 3rd generation represented by Jens Piper and Lars Piper, the Højslev brick factory. Højslev clay is Denmark's best clay for roof tile production - and this was exactly the point of the purchase. The old brick factory was transformed into Denmark's largest and most modern special brick factory, destined for the production of clay roof tiles. In May 1983, the first Højslev roof tiles were delivered.