GRS acquire Cornish company Maen Karne
Leading Midlands-based materials trading group buys West Country aggregates business
GRS, the UK’s largest independent materials trading group, have expanded their business in the West Country with the acquisition of Cornish aggregates company Maen Karne for an undisclosed sum.
The deal strengthens the Midlands-based firm’s position, particularly in the South West, across all its business lines – bagged and bulk aggregate, waste removal and recycling, and associated transport services.
Maen Karne – which in Cornish means ‘rock of the sea, rock of the land’ – employ 140 people and have built a reputation for customer service. Among the five operational sites included in the deal are two business lines that are new to GRS – concrete products and waste transfer.
Following their recent listing in The Sunday Times Top Track 250 growth companies, GRS say that buying Maen Karne is a complementary addition in more ways than one.
The company’s chief executive, Jon Fisher, said: ‘Maen Karne are a natural fit for GRS. We’ve been working with them for some time and we’re impressed by the way they do business. They are a highly professional and passionate team with a customer-led, can-do attitude, very much like ourselves.’
Maen Karne’s founder and managing director, Julian Chenoweth, added: ‘The decision to sell was never going to be easy, but this is the best way to ensure that the business will continue to thrive. Joining forces with GRS gives us solid backing to keep growing and look forward to the next chapter of the Maen Karne story.’
As part of the GRS Group, Maen Karne’s operations director, Ross Facey, will take on overall management of the business, while Julian Chenoweth will continue as a non-executive director working with the board of Maen Karne and the wider GRS Group.
