PEOPLE 10 MINUTES WITH: GARRY GREGORY Packed Products Director, Tarmac


What is your current role and how long have you been doing it?


I have been the Tarmac Packed Products Director since 1st Aug 2021.


What does your role entail?


In its broadest sense, my role involves overseeing the Tarmac UK Packed Products business which consists of over 200 employees and spans 24 operational sites across the country. These sites manufacture all of Tarmac’s bagged products including Cement, Postcrete, Concrete, Mortar, Grout, Macadam and Aggregates; all under our Blue Circle, Tarmac, Pozament and Limelite Brands.


The focus of my role changes from one day to the next and involves time spent on safety, strategy, accounts, commercial, marketing, operations, logistics, supply chain and HR/people activities.


Each week my time will typically be a mixture of internal meetings, visiting our sites, engaging with customers, as well as looking at future strategy and opportunities.


How did you get started in this industry? I started out in the construction industry 25 years ago when I joined Rugby Cement as part of its Graduate Management Programme. Back then Mike Smith was the HR Manager, he not only interviewed me, but also gave me a lot of support during those early years. I owe him a debt of gratitude for setting me on the right path all those years ago.


What roles were you doing before and how did they prepare you for this one? My first few roles were in external sales – selling Cementitious products (such as Fly Ash) and Readymix Concrete, I was also a Bulk Cement Account Manager. I then spent a couple of years in Strategy which was a great way to understand the breadth of a business and get involved with things like growth and investment strategies. Following that, I’ve since spent nearly 15 years heading-up an increasing size and scale of business, previously for Cemex, and now for Tarmac, covering many products such as Blocks, Blocks Paving, T Beam Floors, Asphalt, Contracting, Aggregates, RMX and now Packed Products.


While the size of the respective businesses has grown and the products I’m responsible for have changed, the key principles of leading the businesses remain the same, namely that we need to safely manufacture products and


solutions that are value adding to our customers. We need to have a clear value proposition and earn the trust of our customers by being honest and doing what we say we will. Customers have a choice whether to buy from us and without them we don’t have a business. The fact I started in the Cement sector 25 years ago, and subsequently spent time supplying blocks and block paving to the Retail & Merchant sector certainly gives me an advantage in terms of product knowledge, as well as understanding our customers and their market environment.


What would you like to achieve in your role?


From an internal perspective, the answer is to lead a business with high engagement which operates safely and delivers on its promises. We’re committed to fostering a fair and supportive culture that promotes opportunities for all, where people feel part of the team, proud to be themselves and are recognised for their efforts


From an external perspective I want to continue being a supply partner that our customers trust by the ongoing provision of great customer service, whether this be day- to-day deliveries and transactions, through the solutions we offer or simply the way our teams communicate and support our customers.


What has been the highlight of your career so far?


Rather than a specific highlight, what satisfies me most is seeing people develop who then go onto future successes. I’ve managed teams for a long time and over the years often support individuals in a mentoring capacity. Knowing I may have played a small part in an individual’s development is richly rewarding.


Other highlights are where I’ve played a part in business growth. In my previous job as area director for Tarmac West Midlands, for example, we opened a brand-new Asphalt, Aggregates and Readymix site at Washwood Heath on the outskirts of Birmingham.


I particularly like developing new solutions and services for our customers so make sure this is a key focus for me and the team. We need to be easy to do business with, allied with a having value proposition which includes a comprehensive suite of solutions for our customers. We must listen to our customers and keep developing innovative solutions based on their feedback. This year alone, we have launched Blue Circle Slab Layer Plus and Blue


www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net December 2022


Circle Masterlay (Levelling Compounds) bagged products. Being involved in the development of new solutions and then finally seeing them in a branch or store is always a proud moment.


What do you see as the main issues for builders’ merchants and for the construction industry at the moment?


I think builders’ merchants have a range of challenges shared by many from uncertainty about forecast demand and pressure on margins to employee (talent) retention. Looking slightly further ahead, the requirement to be even more sustainable is growing, and this is something we need continued commitment to from individual businesses, collaboratively through the supply chain and as an industry.


If you could go back to the start of your career, what piece of advice would you give yourself?


We are simply wise stewards tending the fire, so really think about what you want your legacy to be – not only from the perspective of WHAT you do in your career, but also from the perspective of HOW you have gone about it.


There will be highs and lows, successes, and disappointments. Always remain balanced in your response and learn from both.


Football, rugby, cycling, golf or gardening – which one’s more likely to keep you busy at the weekends?


I like all sports but my number one is football. I’m a season ticket holder at Leicester City so go to every home game and many away games each season.


If you’re at the bar – what are you drinking? A nice cold lager such as Estrella, Moretti or Peroni.


What’s your favourite book? Favourite film? When the Da Vinci code by Dan Brown was first released, I couldn’t put it down so maybe that. I do watch quite a lot of films – typically thrillers, mystery and suspense. That said, films I would watch again and again have to stand the test of time, so in no particular order Top Gun, The Breakfast Club and Rocky II!


If you could be a superhero, what super- power would you choose?


The ability to time travel – I would love to go back in time to witness landmark historic events. BMJ


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