ARC contracts under threat
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• Many of aggregates-carrier ARC's vital road-building contracts with local authorities could face the axe if a South African-backed bid for ARC's parent company is successful.
Most of ARC's 950 ownerdriven mixer and tipper vehicles are on council road contracts and many authorities are politically hostile to third-party contractors with South African connections.
Luxembourg-based Minorco, in which South African Ang,loDe Beers has a 60% stake, shocked the City when it made a record 22.9 billion bid for Consolidated Gold Fields, which owns ARC. Consolidated Gold, which domiciled in the UK, now has less than 60 days to reply.
ARC stresses that, until the bid is settled, "it's business as usual. We would not envisage it affecting our operations in the short term even if it is successful," it says.
ARC uses owner-drivers on contract agreements instead of employees to drive its vehicles. Mick Binns of the National Owner-Drivers Association (NODA) says he is not concerned about the predator.
"There has been talk that if Cons Gold was sold ARC would be sold off and many of its competitors would be keen to buy it," he says. These include Tarmac and RMC.
ARC says a "high proportion — more than 50%" of its vehicles are in road construction projects for local councils or the Department of Transport, which has responsibility for motorways.
The company is split into five divisions: South Eastern, Southern, Eastern, Western and ARC Marine.
The parent company Consolidated Gold has some South African involvement, but so far this has not caused any problems with Labour-controlled authorities. It has a 35% share in Gold Fields of South Africa, which in turn contributes 15% of Cons Gold's income.