New CEO set to take over a business building for future

BREEDON GROUP HAS RIDDEN OUT A TOUGH YEAR AND IS LOOKING TO A BRIGHT FUTURE POST-COVID

A new chief executive will take over at construction materials giant Breedon Group.

Rob Wood, pictured, who is the listed company’s finance director, will replace outgoing CEO Pat Ward.

Mr Ward announced his plan to step down last October but continue to help the board until the end of the year.

Based at Breedon-on-the-Hill, near East Midlands Airport, the business employs around 3,500 people and has almost a billion tonnes of mineral reserves and resources.

It owns more than 100 quarries, asphalt plants and cement and concrete operations and operates in sectors ranging from slate production to clay product manufacturing, contract surfacing and highway maintenance.

Since it was launched in 2010, it has grown organically and through the acquisition of businesses in the heavy construction materials market.

Financial results just released show pre-tax profits halved last year to £48 million on a turnover on a par with the previous year, at £929 million.

The business said it was a “robust performance against a backdrop of considerable disruption caused by

Covid-19”.

The results show Breedon reported a strong balance sheet and liquidity, and experienced a strong recovery in the second half of last year as the economy and construction sector started to reopen, with like-for-like revenues and profits ahead of the previous year.

Mr Ward said: “The pandemic brought unprecedented pressures to bear on the group in 2020, which demanded an exceptional response from everyone in our business.

“Although we remain mindful of the ongoing impact of Covid-19, with the worst of the pandemic now hopefully behind us and some welcome clarity on Brexit, I believe the prospects for Breedon and for our industry are increasingly positive.

“With robust commitments from the UK and Irish governments to infrastructure investment and continuing long-term demand for housing, forecasters are expecting this year and next to see steady growth in demand for our products in both countries.”

When Mr Wood becomes CEO, he will be succeeded by James Brotherton, who joined as chief financial officer designate on January 1.

Helen Miles also joined the board as a non-executive director on April 1.

She was a director and a member of the executive committee at water company Severn Trent, and before that held senior positions with Homeserve and BT Group.

She is also a non-executive director of the Royal Navy.