| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | As the Tar Macadam Syndicate Ltd in 1903 |
| Founder(s) | Edgar Purnell Hooley |
| Headquarters | Wolverhampton |
| Products | Aggregate Asphalt 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 is a company that is based in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom and operates internationally. The company produces aggregates and road-surfacing materials, including tarmacadam, from which the company's name is derived. It was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index before being acquired by Anglo American.
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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]
The company is organized into three divisions: Tarmac, Tarmac Building Products and Tarmac Middle East.[21]
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]
Tarmac, now focused on the provision of building materials, offers several products that were specifically developed in response to the need for sustainable solutions: