 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1903 As the Tar Macadam Syndicate Ltd |
| Founder | Edgar Purnell Hooley |
| Fate | Acquired by Anglo American plc |
| Successor | Tarmac Holdings |
| Headquarters | Wolverhampton, United Kingdom |
| Products |
|
| Services |
|
| Revenue | £1,081 million (2011) |
Number of employees | Approx 4,500 |
| Parent | Anglo American |
Tarmac Group Limited was a British building materials company headquartered in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. It produced 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 formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The company was founded in 1903 by Edgar Purnell Hooley two years after he patented the road surfacing material tarmac. The company grew quickly, first being listed on the Birmingham Stock Exchange in 1913 and on the London Stock Exchange in 1922. Despite intense competition and other challenging factors, Tarmac expanded both geographically and in its range of services, particularly as a consequence of intense demands of the Second World War. By 1953, Tarmac was processing over two million tons of slag per year while its road surfacing activities had developed into a substantial civil engineering business in its own right. During the 1950s and 1960s, it acquired numerous competitors, becoming the largest roadstone and construction group in Britain in 1968 following a three way merger between Tarmac, Derbyshire Stone and William Briggs.
During the 1970s, Tarmac Group made a decisive shift towards private home construction; by the end of the decade, it was building 4,000 houses annually and would become the largest housebuilder in Britain. At the end of the 1980s, its housebuilding activities accounted for half of Tarmac Group's profits, somewhat overshadowing its performance in other areas, such as its expansion into North America and other international markets. However, the company was ill-prepared for the recession of the early 1990s, having continued to invest heavily in land; the company's management orientated away from housing towards the construction sector. The company disposed of its remaining housing activities via an asset swap with the homebuilder Wimpey in exchange for its construction and minerals interests.
During July 1999, Tarmac demerged its construction and professional services businesses under the name Carillion; shortly thereafter, the Tarmac building materials business was acquired by Anglo American. In 2010, Tarmac Group was separated into Tarmac Limited and Tarmac Building Products. Three years later, Anglo American merged Tarmac Limited with the British-based assets of Lafarge to form a 50:50 joint venture, Lafarge Tarmac (now Tarmac Holdings). Tarmac Building Products was subsequently sold to Lafarge Tarmac in 2014.