Introduction
How we got here
“One of our strategies is to seek to exploit industrial changes
which create opportunities for the Company to develop specialist
products that do not compete solely on price. Increasing demand for
armour stone for coastal and river defence is one example.”
Annual Report and Accounts 1997
When Aggregate Industries was formed in 1997
from the merger of Bardon Group plc and CAMAS plc, it was the fifth
largest aggregates producer and fourth largest coated stone
producer in the UK. In the past decade we have grown predominantly
through the acquisition of businesses which complement our mix of
products. In 2007, we were ranked second largest aggregates and
asphalt producer. Not only have the volumes of materials grown, we
now operate from many more locations across the UK and Channel
Islands in all parts of the business.
In 2005, Holcim, the Swiss Cement
multinational, acquired Aggregate Industries. Since then, new
procedures have been adopted to bring us into line with the
requirements of Swiss company law and Holcim’s own policies.
Quarrying is an ancient activity. Some of the
stone in the ancient Roman road of the Fosse Way can be connected
to rock types at our Croft Quarry. In the past decade much has
changed in the company. If we take a longer look back into history,
we see that the industry has changed significantly, not only in the
way stone was extracted but also the working conditions were very
different.
‘The earliest known printed reference to
quarrying at Bardon Hill seems to be in the topographer William
Burton’s 1622 Description of Leicester Shire. The commercial
development of Bardon Hill stone, however, was made possible by the
opening in 1833 of the Leicester and Swannington Railway, the first
steam-worked public railway conveying both passengers and freight
in the Midlands. The success of the line was largely due to the
initiative and enterprise of the Ellis family of Beaumont Leys, who
were active Quakers. George and Robert Stephenson were consultants
in building the railway and at its opening the first train carried
banners promising cheap coal and granite, warm hearths and good
roads. The granite for the good roads was to come from Bardon and
other local quarries.”
Reverend Dr Roy Fenn
Company Chaplain and Archivist
This excerpt from the Company history relating
to Bardon Hill Quarries reveals that the purpose of quarried stone
has changed little, yet the picture (right) shows that working
conditions and practices have dramatically altered. What remains as
a constant is the connection between the existence of quarries and
their associated activities and the economy of both the local area
and the country as a whole. Concern for both safety and the
environment have been a recent phenomenon.