18 May 2006 - TARMAC ECO PROJECT HOSTS MAYOR

An environmental project spearheaded by construction giant Tarmac and youngsters from a Wolverhampton school has been given the mayoral seal of approval.

Outgoing Wolverhampton mayor Cllr Phil Bateman MBE met with some of Tarmac's senior management, including head of finance UK Chris Reynolds. He was able to gain a greater understanding of the local history of Tarmac and its standing in the area, as well as more recent developments in its recycling, research and development divisions.

He later met a group of children from East Park Infants and Junior School to look at an environmental project they have been involved with on the site.

Tarmac has an ongoing relationship with the school, including employees helping training the school football team and assisting with reading classes, and the children helped the firm create an eco-friendly area at its Ettingshall site to develop a habitat for as many local species of wildlife as possible.

Chris Reynolds,said: "As a major employer in the region, building and maintaining strong links with the local community is very important to Tarmac and we were delighted to welcome the mayor to visit our headquarters and gain an insight into our work with East Park Junior School."

Cllr Bateman said: "It was very interesting and I love the way Tarmac is interacting with the local schools. Tarmac is one of the iconic names of Wolverhampton and a business that we want to retain and one of the best ways of doing that is creating partnerships like this with the local community."

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For further information please contact Christine Smart, Rebecca Cowley or Delia Elcock at Citigate SMARTS on 0121 456 3199 or email: delia.elcock@citigatesmarts.co.uk.