Concrete deal paves way for growth
AROUND 25 jobs have been safeguarded after a concrete building block manufacturing site was acquired by a leading supplier of lightweight aggregates to the block making industry.
Yorkshire-based Hargreaves (GB) has acquired the 12 acre site at Thornhill Works in Dewsbury from Forticrete, which was restructuring its business operations.
The deal has been funded by The Royal Bank of Scotland.
Hargreaves (GB), which employs 40 people and has a turnover of £10m which it hopes to increase following the tie-up, has supplied products to Forticrete to manufacture blocks for a number of years.
The Dewsbury site currently manufactures standard masonry products and purpose-designed foundation blocks as well as ancillary masonry units.
Its client base includes large national builders merchants such as Travis Perkins, Jewsons, Wolseley and the Grafton Group as well as major regional merchant The Myers Group, incorporating Naylor Myers and other local companies.
David Beaumont, managing director of Hargreaves, said: “Acquiring the block manufacturing site in Dewsbury is a considerable step forward for the company and it will enhance our offering and help us to grow the business and develop into new markets.
Our success has been achieved by providing customers with bespoke solutions to cater for their requirements and this will continue to be our main focus for the future.”
Funding was arranged through Andy Tyas from RBS and Graham Nind from RBS Invoice Finance in Barnsley.
Mr Tyas, relationship manager, commercial banking at RBS, said: “David has steered Hargreaves (GB) for seven years now and overseen an impressive and ongoing period of growth.
“He has ambitious plans for the company moving forward and we look forward to helping him grow the business.”
The manufacturing site will compliment the existing Hargreaves (GB) business which operates from a site at Stourton near Leeds and blends and processes different types of reclaimed ash from carefully selected deposits.
It provides specialist surface materials including ‘red path’ for pathways on golf courses and ‘red shale’ for speedway circuits.
Hargreaves (GB) also provides a total project management service to reclaim ash deposits and operates a sand and gravel quarry near Preston supplying concreting aggregates used mainly for the ready-mix concrete industry.
The company also has an aggregate merchanting business based at Stoney Middleton in Derbyshire which offers a full range of natural and recycled aggregates.
