Richard

Name: Richard

Current role: Business Manager, Tarmac National Contracting

Current location: Leeds Yorkshire and Humberside region 

Joined as: Management Trainee

When: 1986

Why Tarmac?

After I left school I wanted to join the construction industry but also carry on with my further education but not day release. Luckily at the time Tarmac were offering places at technical college studying an OND in mechanical engineering full time and holiday site experience all with pay. I applied, got through the interviews and tests and started at my local technical college with work placements in both quarrying at Buxton and surfacing in Manchester.

The nature of the industry gives you scope to have many differing experiences. This is due to the national coverage of the business and the wide product portfolio and from this you soon realise Tarmac is much more than just the ‘black sticky stuff’. All our products touch every part of life and through this you encounter many different types of people and work life situations.

A bit about your role

My main role is making sure we meet the yearly business strategy so that my region delivers the commercial budget safely, which involves a lot of financial planning. Safety health and environmental issues also take up a lot of my time and its part of the business I am very passionate about. I want all my team to go home at the end of each day without any injury or be involved in any high potential near hits. The contracting business is a dangerous one.

Key stages in your career at Tarmac

Management trainee, Technical College and then on to higher education via Doncaster College and Leeds University. All holiday periods and year out spent in the business undertaking jobs such as an assistant quarry manager in Buxton and a surfacing supervisor in Manchester.

First full time job was as a business analysts pulling together budgets for Tarmac Central which included contracting.

From there numerous jobs in sales and operations including help setting up the previously known Tarmac Topsport business, developing our recycling arm were I ended up as regional manager and an operations manager for one of our contracting business.

Qualifications/Experience that has helped you

OND mechanical engineer, degree in quarrying and road surfacing, COC in waste management, IOSH certificate.

Other experience at Tarmac has ranged from working out specifications for a drainage carpet for the football pitch at Old Trafford, to attending numerous internal personnel development courses which included the Tarmac managers programme.