Why Experience Matters: Protecting EMJ’s GRP Expertise
EMJ Plastics has designed and manufactured specialist GRP products in Great Britain since 1964, with its Permadec permanent formwork used on more than 5,000 UK structures. That six decades of experience has created valuable technical knowledge and expertise, which EMJ acted to protect through recent High Court proceedings concerning the copying and subsequent use of confidential company information.
EMJ’s 60 Years of GRP Expertise
EMJ’s experience in specialist GRP began more than six decades ago and includes early involvement with the Department of Transport in developing what was then a novel approach to using reinforced GRP panels as permanent formwork. Since that pioneering work, the company has continued to develop the technology, pursuing innovations designed to improve efficiency and deliver technical advantages for customers.
Today, EMJ continues to design and manufacture in Great Britain, supplying specialist GRP products for construction and infrastructure projects at home and overseas. Its Permadec permanent formwork system has been used across thousands of civil engineering structures, supported by technical knowledge that has been accumulated through sustained investment, experience and the contribution of EMJ’s people.
That knowledge has genuine commercial value. It was for this reason that EMJ took the decision to bring High Court proceedings to protect confidential information developed within the business following the establishment of competing business Mekina Industries. Legal action was not undertaken lightly, but EMJ believed it was necessary to protect expertise built over many years.
High Court Findings Concerning EMJ’s Confidential Information
The High Court has now handed down its judgment and made significant findings concerning the copying and subsequent use of confidential EMJ information.
The Court found that former EMJ operations manager Ian Baggaley copied 11,579 EMJ files onto a Toshiba drive for use in a new competing business, Mekina Industries Ltd. It found that he acted in breach of confidence and breach of contract, failed to return the material and subsequently used EMJ information at Mekina.
The Court also found former EMJ employee and Mekina co-founder Mark Johnson jointly liable for the use of confidential EMJ material. The judgment contains further findings concerning the subsequent use of EMJ information, including material reflected in marketing to potential customers.
EMJ believes it is important to communicate these findings accurately and without embellishment. The evidence has been examined by the High Court and the Court has reached its conclusions; EMJ’s role is not to add labels or make allegations beyond what has been established, but to explain why protecting its information and expertise matters.
Why Specialist GRP Expertise Matters
Specialist expertise is built through experience, and EMJ’s has been developed through more than 60 years of product design, manufacturing, technical problem-solving and delivery on live infrastructure projects. Its Permadec permanent formwork system has been used on more than 5,000 structures in the UK, with the knowledge behind it acquired project by project and continuously developed by the people within the business.
That provenance matters because a specialist GRP product is more than the component supplied to site. Behind it lies an understanding of design, manufacture, application and performance, together with the experience required to anticipate challenges and develop practical solutions when circumstances demand them. For customers, contractors and engineers working on important infrastructure, the depth and origin of that expertise can therefore be significant.
This is particularly relevant in a specialist market where competitors such as Mekina operate in the same broad field. EMJ’s position is not based simply on the product it manufactures today, but on the accumulated expertise behind it: six decades of British design and manufacturing, technical development and experience gained across thousands of structures.
Protecting Confidential Information and Intellectual Property
Businesses have a responsibility to protect confidential information, intellectual property and specialist expertise created through their own investment and the work of their people. For EMJ, that responsibility is also about safeguarding the knowledge, standards and capability that customers and partners expect when they choose to work with an established specialist.
The High Court proceedings were therefore about more than a collection of files. They concerned information developed within a business that has spent decades investing in its products, technical knowledge and customer relationships, and which the Court found had subsequently been used at Mekina.
EMJ supports fair competition and believes that how a business conducts itself is as important as what it produces. It seeks to deal professionally and responsibly with customers, employees, partners and the wider industry while respecting confidential information and the expertise developed by others.
Those are the standards EMJ sets for itself. The High Court judgment is publicly available and its findings can be considered on their own merits; EMJ does not need to tell others what conclusions to draw, but it will continue to be clear about the principles by which it operates.
Looking Ahead: Continued GRP Innovation
Further matters arising from the proceedings, including remedies, remain for the Court to determine, and EMJ will not speculate on those issues while the legal process continues. In the meantime, the business remains focused on its customers, its people and the continued development of specialist GRP products for the construction and infrastructure sectors.
The High Court judgment is an important part of protecting that legacy, but EMJ’s priority is to continue developing it by delivering for customers, investing in its people and expertise, advancing its GRP technology and maintaining the professional standards on which trust in the business has been built.
EMJ’s long-term position has been built through British design and manufacturing, technical innovation and experience gained across thousands of projects. From its early work in the development of GRP permanent formwork to the continued evolution of Permadec today, the business remains committed to applying that expertise to the practical challenges facing its customers.