Aggregate Industries makes Building Materials MD redundant

Aggregate Industries has made Ralph Cunningham, the managing director of its Building Materials division, redundant as part of a restructure.

Cunningham is one of several casualties at board level in the division. The financial director, commercial director and supply chain director are all also set to depart.

However the company declined to reveal the number of redundancies involved within the whole division, as the restructure will not be completed until the end of the week.

The Building Materials division supplies construction products for the commercial and domestic markets. Brands on the commercial side include: Charcon hard landscaping and drainage products; Masterblock building blocks; Fyfestone architectural masonry; and Bradstone Industrial industrial products. Meanwhile it supplies Bradstone garden landscaping products and decorative aggregates to the domestic side.

One industry expert said: “It’s the part of the business that’s been hit the hardest by the downturn. All the big firms with interests in building products are reviewing their operations as the market has deriorated so drastically.”

An Aggregate Industries spokeswoman commented:

“We can confirm that the company has restructured its Building Materials division to maximise all opportunities within current market conditions. The Group believes that a more focused approach is now required and the entire product portfolio has been reorganised into customer channels, that embrace a much broader range of brands and products. The restructure has resulted in redundancies at the executive board level including Managing Director Ralph Cunningham, all of whom are currently reviewing opportunities within Holcim. The restructure will be complete by the end of the week.”

Aggregate Industries is a member of the Holcim Group.