Aggregate Industries UK Limited, a member of the

Holcim Group The Holcim Group, legally known as Holcim Limited, (formerly known as LafargeHolcim) is a Swiss multinational corporation, multinational company that manufactures building materials. It has a presence in around 60 countries, and employs around 6 ...

, is a company based in the United Kingdom with headquarters at

Bardon Hill Bardon Hill is the highest Hill in Leicestershire and on a clear day the Malvern and Shropshire Hills (approx. 50–60 miles), summits in Derbyshire (approx. 30–40 miles) and Lincoln Cathedral (almost 50 miles away) can be seen. However, ...

, Coalville, Leicestershire. Aggregate Industries manufactures and supplies a range of heavy building materials, primarily aggregates such as

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

and

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

to the

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

industry and other business sectors. Aggregate Industries also manufactures and imports

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

, and provides a range of aggregate-associated goods and services, these include the manufacture of

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

and reconstructed stone items for construction industry and domestic applications, the manufacture of pre-cast concrete items, the supply of ready-mixed concrete, design and project

management consulting Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

, and resurfacing contracting services. Aggregate Industries operates more than 60

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safet ...

in the UK and has several bases throughout mainland Europe and Scandinavia. Its clients operate in a range of services including

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

, education,

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

, road building, housing, power, energy and

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' (1967 fil ...

History

The story of Aggregate Industries began with the Ellis family of Beaumont Leys, which is now part of Leicester. Active Quakers, the family was influential in the Midlands' first public railway, the

Leicester and Swannington Railway The Leicester and Swannington Railway (L&SR) was one of England's first railways, built to bring coal from West Leicestershire collieries to Leicester, where there was great industrial demand for coal. The line opened in 1832, and included a tun ...

, which was used to transport

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

from local quarries. In time, John Ellis became the local MP and his descendant, Joseph Ellis II, entered into partnership with a Breedon Everard of Groby, initially as

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

merchants, later extending their business interests to

. In 1858, following the death of Joseph Ellis II, his sons James and Joseph joined with Breedon Everard to lease the Bardon quarries belonging to Robert Jacomb-Hood II of Bardon Hall. Those quarries, now known as Bardon Hills, remained active as the business expanded, and the nearby Bardon Hall became the company's headquarters. Peter Tom joined the business in 1956 and, as Bardon Group, he steered it towards an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

in 1988. Following the merger of Bardon Group and Camas (the former aggregates business of

English China Clays English China Clays PLC, or ECC, was a mining company involved in the extraction of china clay, based in St Austell, Cornwall. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but in 1999 was acquired by Imetal. History English China Clays was i ...

) in 1997, Peter Tom became chief executive of the merged business, named Aggregate Industries, which continued to grow rapidly by acquisition under his management.

Massachusetts State Police The Massachusetts State Police (MSP) is an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, responsible for law enforcement and vehicle regulation across the state. As of 2024, it has 2,500 sworn troop ...

searched the offices of Aggregate Industries, the largest concrete supplier for the underground portions of the

Big Dig The Big Dig was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the then elevated Central Artery of Interstate 93 that cut across Boston into the O'Neill Tunnel and built the Ted Williams Tunnel to extend Massachusetts Turnpike, Interstate 90 to Logan I ...

, in June 2005. They seized evidence that Aggregate delivered concrete that did not meet contract specifications. In March 2006 Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly announced plans to sue project contractors and others because of poor work on the project. Over 200 complaints were filed by the state of Massachusetts as a result of leaks, cost overruns, quality concerns, and safety violations. In total, the state has sought approximately $100 million from the contractors ($1 for every $141 spent). In May 2006, six employees of the company were arrested and charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States. In July 2007, Aggregate Industries settled the case with an agreement to pay $50 million. $42 million of the settlement went to civil cases and $8 million was paid in criminal fines. The company will provide $75 million in insurance for maintenance as well as pay $500,000 toward routine checks on areas suspected to contain substandard concrete. In 2005 the company was acquired by the Swiss-based

, which in 2014 was one of the largest cement companies in the world.

Governance

Aggregate Industries' board is chaired by a representative from Holcim. Other members comprise the chief executive officer, chief financial officer/deputy chief executive and a non executive director. The board oversees performance and ensures that Aggregate Industries complies with the principles of good corporate governance. Strategy formulation, operational management, performance monitoring and the evaluation of major capital projects fall within the remit of the UK Executive Committee.

References

External links

Aggregate Industries
{{Authority control Building materials companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1858 Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies based in Leicestershire Construction and civil engineering companies of the United Kingdom 1858 establishments in England Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1858 Holcim Group