Rand Group expands road planing business

Rand Group has bought Associated Asphalt's road planing business for an undisclosed sum. Rand has taken on 32 staff and eight planing machines, based in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.

The new business will become a part of Rand's National Road Planing (NRP) division. The move brings "a significant number of new customers to NRP in addition to consolidating an ongoing workload with Associated Asphalt and its parent company Aggregates Industries".

The acquisition is said to be a good fit, complementing NRP's existing network of depots at Rand, Bulkington and Newton Abbott.

Rand chief executive Jonathan Wells said: "This acquisition, following as it does a substantial recent investment in new planing machines, will further enhance NRP's position as the UK's leading road planing contractor and provides a platform for its continued successful growth."

When CJ spoke to Wells earlier this year, he described NRP as a mature business, adding "It's already the dominant player in its market, so it's pretty much at its limit; although one or two acquisitions are not out of the question in the next year or two."