Ennstone chief: 'freeze the levy'

The Aggregates Levy should be left unchanged for a couple of years, said Ennstone chairman and chief executive Vaughan McLeod.
"It already raises between £400m and £450m a year for the government and, given that it was so hard to get it into the marketplace, I say don't change it.
"For us, it's neutral in cost as we've been able to pass the levy on to customers. But the consequence of this is that it has pushed up the cost of roads. The government should now leave it alone."
A turnover (six months to 30 June) of £46m (£37m) produced a pre-tax profit of £1.7m (£1.7m).
The aggregates group produced record results in the first half of 2003, much of this coming from its UK operations. Operating profit was 22% higher than in the same period last year, although the performance in England was no more than on track.
Ennstone Breedon reported that its crushed rock and sand and gravel volumes were buoyant. A £1m automatic bagging facility in Breedon Quarry gave Ennstone a foothold in the decorative aggregates market.
In June, Ennstone bought T&T Aggregates, which has a limestone quarry near Doncaster. There will be a further spend on updating facilities.
Scotland also boomed. "We were strong in Scotland, particularly in the first quarter," said McLeod .
"Turnover jumped because we laid a lot of our own asphalt."
Ennstone Thistle enjoyed increased turnover from surfacing and contracting work, although at lower margins. The spend by the Scottish Executive on highways maintenance resulted in increased sales of asphalt and dry stone.
Business in the US encountered difficult conditions. Bad weather knocked US operations for six.
"There were six weeks of snow in Virginia," said McLeod, "whereas there had been only three days of snow in the previous five years."
Enneurope, in which Ennstone has a 30% share, is raising £3m to fund an acquisition in north-west Poland, where it has set a target of a 25% market share and is planning to capitalise on the country's entry into the EU next year. The company recently bought a concrete plant in the area.