Tarmac Limited
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| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | As the Tar Macadam Syndicate Ltd in 1903 |
| Founder(s) | Edgar Purnell Hooley |
| Headquarters | Wolverhampton |
| Products | Aggregate Asphalt concrete Ready-mixed concrete Contracting service Recycling service Cement Lime Mortar Concrete products |
| Employees | Over 12,500 worldwide |
| Parent | Anglo American |
| Website | www.tarmac.co.uk |
Tarmac Limited is a building materials company based in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom and operating internationally. The company produces road surfacing and heavy building materials including aggregates, concrete, cement and lime, as well as operating as a road construction and maintenance subcontractor.
The company was founded in 1903 by Edgar Purnell Hooley after he patented the road surfacing material tarmac in 1901. The company was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index before being acquired by Anglo American in 1999.
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[edit] History
The company was originally formed by Edgar Purnell Hooley as the Tar Macadam (Purnell Hooley's Patent) Syndicate Limited in 1903.[1] The business was secured in 1905 by Sir Alfred Hickman, who became its first Chairman.[1] It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1922.[2] The Company remained under the Chairmanship of members of the Hickman family until 1959 when Sir Charles Burman, a former Lord Mayor of Birmingham, took over that role.[3]
Milestones in the expansion of the business included the acquisition of Derbyshire Stone in 1968,[4] of Limmer Holdings in 1971,[5] of Mitchell Construction in 1973,[6] of McLean Homes in 1974[7] and of Holland, Hannen & Cubitts in 1976.[8]
The business expanded so rapidly in the 1980s that at its peak it had an annual turnover in excess of £3 billion and employed over 30,000 people: at that time it was a broadly-based industrial group active in building materials, housebuilding and construction.[9]
By the early 1990s it had over-extended itself and in 1992 it reported significant losses.[10] In 1994, Tarmac acquired PSA Projects (formerly part of the UK government's Property Services Agency) which formed the nucleus of a grouping of services businesses, Tarmac Professional Services.[11] In 1996 it disposed of its housebuilding activities to George Wimpey under a swap agreement which enabled Tarmac to acquire Wimpey's building materials and construction activities.[12]
The company became a subsidiary of Anglo American plc in October 1999,[13] three months after Tarmac had demerged its construction and professional services arm to form Carillion: this move left Tarmac as a focused building materials company.[14]
In August 2007 Anglo American announced it was to sell the business[15] but in February 2008 went on to report that it was putting the sale on hold.[16] In June, Tarmac Iberia was sold to Holcim[17].
In 2010, Anglo American sold Tarmac's European concrete aggrigates business to Eurovia; it also sold its Polish concrete products business to the private equity firm Innova Capital. [18]. A few months later, the French concrete products business was sold to the private equity firm Fondations Capital[19].
In 2011, Anglo-American announced a proposed joint venture with Lafarge that involved combining both companies' UK aggregates businesses.[20]
[edit] Structure
The company is organized into three divisions: Tarmac, Tarmac Building Products and Tarmac Middle East.[21]
[edit] Major projects
Projects undertaken by or involving Tarmac Construction prior to demerger of that business in 1999 included the Preston Bypass completed in 1958,[22] the St Albans Bypass completed in 1960,[23] the Thames Barrier,[24] the Joint European Torus[25] and Drax Power Station[25] all completed in 1984, the Conwy Road Tunnel completed in 1986,[26] the Albert Dock refurbishment completed in 1988,[27] the Channel Tunnel completed in 1994,[28] the Medway Road Tunnel completed in 1996,[29] the Swindon Designer Outlet in Swindon (completed in 1997) [30] and Canary Wharf tube station completed in 1999.[31]
[edit] Tarmac and sustainability
Tarmac, now focused on the provision of building materials, offers several products that were specifically developed in response to the need for sustainable solutions:
- TarmacDry: a porous paving system which allows rainwater to infiltrate through the surface and be stored for other uses which was developed in response to the increasing issues of flash flooding and the need to save water.[32]
- Topforce: a reinforced concrete eliminating the use of steel reinforcement. The Carbon Dioxide of the synthetic macro fibres used in Topforce is 70% lower than that of steel fabric mesh reinforcement.[33]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Hooley, Edgar Purnell (1860–1942)’, by John Sheail Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, first published September 2004
- ^ Berry Ritchie, The Story of Tarmac Page 38, Published by James & James (Publishers) Ltd, 1999
- ^ Berry Ritchie, The Story of Tarmac Page 70, Published by James & James (Publishers) Ltd, 1999
- ^ The Matlock Trail BBC News, 2006
- ^ Notes on Financial Times Actuaries Index 1971
- ^ Notes on Financial Times Actuaries Index 1973
- ^ Sir Eric Pountain The Telegraph, 2003
- ^ Notes on Financial Times Actuaries Index 1976
- ^ Tarmac plc Annual Report and Accounts 1989
- ^ Tarmac plc Annual Report and Accounts 1992
- ^ Tarmac saved from PSA cut; government to bear brunt of reductions
- ^ British home builders to swap some assets
- ^ "Tarmac Agrees Takeover". BBC News. 1999-11-05. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/505733.stm. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
- ^ "Tarmac to split in two". BBC News. 1999-03-16. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/297579.stm. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
- ^ "Tarmac up for Sale". Building. 2007-08-03. http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=3092828.
- ^ "Anglo American puts Tarmac sale on shelf" Guardian, February 2008
- ^ "Anglo sells Tarmac unit to Holcim for $230m". Engineering News. 2008-06-13. http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/anglo-sells-tarmac-unit-to-holcim-for-230m-2008-06-13.
- ^ White, Garry (2010-02-16). "Anglo sells Tarmac's Continental businesses". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/mining/7251206/Anglo-sells-Tarmacs-Continental-businesses.html.
- ^ "Fondations Capital acquires Tarmac's French and Belgian building materials operations". AltAssets. 2010-05-05. http://www.altassets.net/private-equity-news/article/nz18504.html.
- ^ Tarmac and Lafarge unveil plans to create new UK joint venture Daily Mail, 18 February 2011
- ^ About Tarmac
- ^ Preston Bypass Opening Booklet
- ^ Motorway archive list of material held by Northamptonshire CC
- ^ Environment Agency
- ^ a b Berry Ritchie, The Story of Tarmac Page 100, Published by James & James (Publishers) Ltd, 1999
- ^ Motoway archive: A55
- ^ Berry Ritchie, Page 99
- ^ EuroTunnel at Structurae
- ^ Rochester Bridge Trust
- ^ "Swindon Designer Outlet". Artipot. 6 December 2010. http://www.artipot.com/articles/746445/swindon-designer-outlet.htm.
- ^ Schmidlin website
- ^ TarmacDry
- ^ Topforce
[edit] External links
[edit] Further reading
- The Story of Tarmac by Berry Ritchie published by James & James (Publishers) Ltd, 1999
