Page 60 - Sigmaroc Annual-Report 2023

SIGMAROC ANNUAL REPORT 2023 STRATEGIC REPORT
PPG
PPG is a group of companies specialising in manufacturing precast concrete products and blocks. The platform includes Allen Concrete, Poundfield Precast, CCP Building Products, Rightcast and more recently Retaining. With a triangulation of bases in London, on the East Coast and in the North West, PPG supply a wide and diverse range of industries ranging from house builders and farmers to national sea defence projects and international contractors, both directly and through merchants.
The PPG companies are some of the most experienced and innovative in their industry with some operating for over 70 years and collectively owning a significant number of patents and licences.
PLATFORM HIGHLIGHTS
2023 has been a very successful year for the PPG platform, with further growth across the businesses and another acquisition.
The health and well-being of our staff remained our most important objective. To aid this, in 2023 we launched “Peptalk”, an app-based platform designed to promote employee engagement and wellbeing. Continued focus on behavioural safety techniques has led to a further reduction in incident severity and frequency. Safety pitstops were completed across the platform with focus on core risks, further enhancing the proactive safety culture.
In terms of business performance, Poundfield achieved further growth in 2023, increasing revenue by 6% over the previous year. The bespoke division continued to see advancement in the size, scale and complexity of projects,
undertaking significant jobs for HS2 and Mace along with a landmark cement free concrete project for the UK Environment Agency. Capital investment at the Creeting operation included the replacement of diesel forklift trucks with electric to reduce carbon emissions, and the continued increase in storage capacity, enabling the business for further growth.
Due to the slowdown in the residential construction market CCP executed proactive cost control, enabling the business to deliver a strong result in a difficult market. As part of this process the business reduced its cost base by during the year, also placing itself in a strong position entering 2024. Development in technology further enhanced our ultra-low carbon concrete (ULCC) with all products offering carbon savings as standard (vs 100% cement alternative). The installation and commissioning of a new wash plant at Aberdo quarry was completed in the second half of the year, offering premium washed aggregates previously designated as waste, in turn releasing approximately 5 million tonnes of limestone reserve.
Allen had another successful year, maintaining continued high service levels, which coupled with close relationships to our loyal customer base, resulted in a strong customer retention rate within a competitive market. Further investment at our Wellingborough plant resulted in the automation of a greater range of products reducing lead times, strengthening our product offering and reducing operating costs. A review, focus and site improvements in respect of the businesses’ core health and Safety risks, resulted in an LTI free year.
Rightcast maintained its strong financial performance since its acquisition the previous year, maintaining LFL sales revenue and margin. Capital investment was focussed on improving the standard of employee welfare facilities.
In April 2023 Retaining joined the platform and has gone from strength to strength since, exceeding expectations and the original forecast model.