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Tarmac is a company based in Wolverhampton and operating in the United Kingdom, originally formed by Edgar Purnell Hooley as the Tar Macadam (Purnell Hooley's Patent) Syndicate Limited in 1903. The company produces aggregates and road-surfacing materials, including Tarmac, from which the company's name is derived. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1922 and de-listed in 1999.

Milestones in the expansion of the business included the acquisition of Derbyshire Stone in 1968, of Mitchell Construction in 1973, of McLean Homes in 1974 and of Holland Hannen & Cubitts in 1976.

Projects undertaken by or involving Tarmac Construction included the Preston Bypass completed in 1958, the St Albans Bypass completed in 1960, the Thames Barrier, the Joint European Torus and Drax Power Station all completed in 1984, the Conwy Road Tunnel completed in 1986, the Albert Dock refurbishment completed in 1988, the Channel Tunnel completed in 1994, the Medway Road Tunnel completed in 1996 and Canary Wharf tube station completed in 1999.

The business expanded so rapidly in the 1980's such that at its peak it had turnover of over £3 billion and employed over 30,000 people. At that time it was listed on the London Stock Exchange as a broadly based industrial group active in building materials, housebuilding and construction.

By the early 1990's it had over-extended itself and in 1992 it reported significant losses ^[1]. In 1996 it disposed of its housebuilding activities to George Wimpey under a swap agreement which enabled Tarmac to acquire Wimpey's building materials and construction activities.

The company is a subsidiary of Anglo American plc, which acquired the firm in October 1999, three months after Tarmac had demerged its construction arm, to form the company Carillion^[2]. This move has left Tarmac as a building materials company, which currently owns 521 sites world-wide, including 75 asphalt plants.

In August 2007 Anglo American announced it was to sell Tarmac to spend more time with its mines. Anglo hope to complete the sale in 2008. Although there are plenty of rumours of potential suitors, there seems to be no straightforward leader in the race (or stroll, depending on your viewpoint) to purchase the company^[3].

Familiar Tarmac logo in use from 1964 to 1996

• Official Website

• The Story of Tarmac by Berry Ritchie published by James & James (Publishers) Ltd, 1999

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