Apprentice success story at Hope Construction Materials

The launch of a new company, new name and new look has been reinforced by the success stories of five apprentices based at Hope cement works in Derbyshire.

Whilst the cement works has operated for more than 80 years, it has recently started a new life as part of Hope Construction Materials. The company was launched in January this year, following the merger of Lafarge and Tarmac in the UK, and the divestment of many of the two company’s industrial sites, including Hope Works.  These sites were purchased as a package and formed Hope Construction Materials, comprising more than 180 concrete, aggregate and asphalt sites across Britain, as well as the country’s largest cement production facility at Hope Works.  

Five months into this new existence, Hope Construction Materials’ industrial director, Ashley Bryan said: ‘It’s an exciting time for the team here. We are very proud that the name and logo chosen for the new company is very much based on Hope Cement Works being at the heart of the business. Whilst Hope Construction Materials is a UK-wide operation supplying a range of products to our customers, the company name and image is very much rooted in the history of this long-standing and successful cement plant, with the ram in our logo shield developed from the Derbyshire County crest.

‘The new ownership has brought with it a fresh approach to business, operations, and, more importantly, to people. And our recent apprentice successes are a fitting way of reinforcing the positive people-based focus of this new young business.’

John Mulryan, maintenance manager, introduced the group of young apprentices who have all celebrated success recently: ‘Three of our apprentices have recently had their dedication and work rewarded by their training college SETA. First-year apprentice Greg Mellor has been given the accolade of Electrical Apprentice of the Year. Danny Floyd (first year mechanical apprentice) has been given the BTEC Award and Charles Cone received the prestigious SETA Apprentice of the Year Award. All three were chosen ahead of around 20 of their peers and we are very proud of their achievements.

‘In other success stories, Joshua McVeigh has completed his four year electrical apprenticeship with us ahead of schedule and with flying colours; and Austin Milner-Cottrill has moved into the third year of his apprenticeship, partnered with Stockport College. We aim to keep this positive track record going with the recruitment of more apprentices over the next few years.’

Ashley Bryan continued: ‘We are extremely proud of the achievements of these five very committed and enthusiastic team members – we are sure they will go on to contribute even more to the success of this site and this company. Looking at our operation more widely, it is worth emphasizing other positive news in what continues to be a very challenging business marketplace:  we are celebrating achieving over 500 days on site without a lost time injury (LTI); we continue to progress ways to make our business as sustainable as we can; we are achieving some of our highest ever levels of reliability and efficiency on our cement kilns; and we are looking on track to have one of our most successful years in terms of volumes produced.’