Council order lures Florida businessman back home

Kevin Bagnall, from the South Yorkshire mining village of Grimethorpe, crossed the Atlantic in 1991 and set up KB Industries (KBI) in Clearwater, Florida in November 2000. Now KBI has grown to 125 staff after developing its flagship product, Flexi-Pave, an environmentally friendly material made from recycled waste tyres.

Mr Bagnall, 50, recently won his first British order – from Barnsley Council for a site in Mapplewell – and wants to build a sizeable arm of the business in this country. He said he hopes to achieve a turn over of between 10m and 15m over the next two years despite the slump in public sector spending.

The British business will be based initially in Halifax but Mr Bagnall said it was likely to move to Wigan. He took Flexi-Pave to the Australian market earlier this year and is also considering launching it in Brazil.

"The only thing that changes is the currency and the language," he said.

"It has got multi-national written all over it because of the markets we are in already."

Mr Bagnall, who left school with no qualifications, created Flexi-Pave while working in the rubber surfacing installation industry. His material uses recycled car tyres, aggregate and a special binder, and its green credentials derive from its re-use of tyres – saving them from going to landfill or to incinerators – as well as its porous quality, which means that natural aquifers (underground layers of permeable rock) are replenished.

KBI says it is the only porous paving system which removes nitrates and phosphorous from water.

It is mixed on site and sets in 24 hours.

So far, it has been used as paving for areas in which people travel at low speed, such as car parks and trails for lightweight vehicles such as golf carts and bicycles, as well as jogging.

KBI also does free installations for charities. The firm has worked with the US Department of Defense, space agency Nasa, parks and golf courses and has appeared on several American television channels, including CNN.

Mr Bagnall said 80 to 90 per cent of its work is for the US administration or federal governments with the remainder coming from the private sector.

Although he has been a success in America and resident there for a long time, Mr Bagnall, a father of five, said there were still elements of British life which could not be replaced.

"I miss the social life. I miss going round to the pub with my mates although I do have that when I go over there (Britain)."

He also said that his childhood in the former industrial stronghold of South Yorkshire had a strong effect on shaping him and his values.

"The mining industry and growing up in Grimethorpe had an extremely big impact on the way I treat people and the way I do business. I am very proud of KBI."

Firm named after owner's father

KB Industries is named after Kevin Bagnall's father, Kenneth, a miner who died after suffering health problems caused by working in the pits.

Kevin Bagnall joined the Navy after leaving school and later worked as a fireman when he returned to Barnsley. He has retained a south Yorkshire accent despite 19 years in the US.

He lives in Clearwater, Florida, and has five children – daughters aged 27, 23 and 21, and sons aged 25 and 15 – and three grandchildren.