Tippermen fear job cuts from quarrying merger
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by Guy Sheppard • Tipper operators in the Midlands fear job losses after rival quarry operators Camas and Bardon announced they are to merge to form the UK's fifth largest aggregates producer.
Both companies employ scores of owner-drivers: their main aggregates quarries in Leicestershire, which are less than 15 miles apart, use more than 120 trucks.
Owner-driver Bert Holmes, who has worked for Barden for nearly 30 years, says jobs could go at either quarry. "There's no use being worried about it because little hauliers like us can't fight big companies," he says. "They do as they like."
Between 60 and 80 trucks are operated out of the Bardon quarry near Coalville, he adds. The Camas quarry is at Croft, south-west of Leicester.
The merger, which is subject to shareholder approval, will create a new company called Aggregate Industries, which will also produce coated stone and pre-cast concrete. It is expected to strengthen the position of both businesses in a market increasingly dominated by heavyweights such as Tarmac and Redland.
A joint statement from Bardon and Camas says: "Over the medium term, it is expected that the merger will provide further opportunities to reduce operational and distribution costs while delivering other business synergies."