OUR PEOPLE
RECOGNISED AS AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE
Tarmac was recognised as an Exemplar Employer by the Skills and Employment Alliance in 2025, highlighting our commitment to high quality skills development and meaningful employment opportunities. The award reflects our long‑standing participation in The 5% Club Accredited Membership Scheme, where we hold Gold membership, alongside our engagement with the Careers and Enterprise Company Employer Standards and the Engineering Development Trust’s Industrial Cadets framework. Together, these programmes demonstrate our dedication to apprenticeships, early careers and “earn and learn” pathways that help people build strong, lasting careers.
Recognised in the Financial Times UK’s Best Employer list, Tarmac has also been independently acknowledged as among the top 10 employers across the Construction, Oil and Gas, Mining and Chemicals industries. This recognition reflects strong colleague feedback and reinforces our focus on creating an environment where people feel supported, valued and able to grow, underpinning our long-term commitment to investing in talent and providing high quality career opportunities.
EMPLOYEE COMMUNITIES AND FORUMS
Supporting colleagues’ social wellbeing ensures our teams feel part of a community of shared voices and experiences, and that they have the freedom to be their authentic self in and out of work. Tarmac has 10 employee communities and forums, established online and at dedicated in-person events, which serve as spaces for employees to talk about their experiences and support change for the better.
Across our communities and forums, which include health and wellbeing, parents and carers, female voice and LGBTQ+, focus weeks and events were held in 2025 to raise awareness and celebrate inclusion. These included Pride and Black History months, Anti-Bullying Week, International Women’s Day, Transgender Day of Visibility, World Mental Health Day and World Menopause Day.
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
According to recent statistics, women make up only 16.9% of the UK engineering workforce. International Women’s Day in March and International Women in Engineering Day held in June were recognised as opportunities to highlight this shortfall and honour the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.
To celebrate this, Tarmac hosted a ‘takeover’ at our Elstow asphalt and readymix plants, where female colleagues from across the business spent a day in all roles running the plant, from loading shovels to control rooms. Organised by our Female Voice community, the team also welcomed two school groups to showcase the variety of the variety of STEM careers at Tarmac and the openness of opportunities on offer.
INCLUSIVE BY DESIGN
We’re continuing to make meaningful improvements in our PPE journey by broadening our PPE range to better reflect the diverse needs of our female workforce. As well as introducing maternity PPE and a broader range of materials, sizes and shapes to suit all body types, we have been able to play a key role in the launch of a new PPE hijab through direct engagement between our colleagues and our PPE suppliers, Leo.
The hijab PPE went through three iterations to refine the product, with a particular innovation being the ‘halo band’ – a piece of fabric that runs around the crown of the head, which allows for a secure hard hat fit without tugging or pulling on the wearer’s hair.
Amall Saleh, Sustainable Construction Advisor, said: “When I was doing placements as a graduate at other employers, I remember getting a bag of PPE and having to make do. For my faith to be considered here at Tarmac makes a massive difference. Had I seen someone who looks like me wearing this when I was thinking about my career, it would’ve inspired me. I hope this will inspire other women now, too.”
The PPE hijab is now available for Tarmac colleagues to order, and the work done by Amall and the team will also benefit hijab wearers in the wider industry, as the item will be offered to other businesses.
CELEBRATING THE PEOPLE BEHIND OUR SUCCESS
Great businesses are built by great people, which is why we are committed to recognising exceptional work and nurturing the talent that drives our business forward. In 2025, following engagement with our colleagues, we launched our Reinvent Our World scheme. The scheme enables our colleagues to recognise those people we work with who have gone above and beyond or done something amazing that reflects our business values, not only being acknowledged for their great work but also receiving a £50 voucher.
Another landmark was the launch of our Moments that Matter, recognising life’s milestones, big or small, at work and home. We now recognise employee service from 1 year to 50 years, with rewards ranging from additional days of annual leave to vouchers and celebrate major milestones at home with vouchers given upon baby birth and adoption, a day off for civil partnership or marriage, and post-retirement annual support seminars.
UPSKILLING OUR COLLEAGUES
Our Park celebrated its fifth birthday in 2025, five years on from its official opening by Prince William, welcoming 6,000 visitors. Since opening, Our Park has seen over 20,000 people, including apprentices, graduates, colleagues and now employees from other businesses, pass through its doors for training, enabling the development of critical operational and safety skills to help progress careers.
Despite being open for five years, it was still a year of firsts for the site. Our new locomotives apprenticeship saw its first cohort complete the course, our first external learners enrolled on our apprenticeship programmes, and we became an MPQC vocational qualification centre enabling us to deliver our first MCQP plant operator scheme, all at an Ofsted Excellent rated centre.
Our Park continues to drive meaningful change across our business – embedding safety, sustainability, and innovation into everything we do, and for the first time, beyond Tarmac into the industry at large.
Matt Gibbs, senior manager – operational competence, said: “OurPark isn’t just addressing critical industry challenges – it’s doing so with our people at the heart of it. With a strong people-first focus, it equips colleagues with the right attitudes, behaviours, and skills to succeed. Many colleagues return as part of their development journey, reinforcing the sense of belonging we foster here.
“Our apprenticeship honours board, now displaying over 150 names, is a testament to this, with over a third of those individuals progressing into leadership or supervisory roles. These apprenticeships provide a strong foundation for careers in materials and construction, and we’re excited to extend these opportunities to organisations across the sector.”
EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
Tarmac’s UK wide Employee Development Programme (EDP) is a cornerstone of our commitment to being an employer of choice and investing in the long-term growth of our people. The programme brings together cross functional teams to collaborate on real life business challenges while building the skills, confidence and networks needed for future career progression. It’s open access approach enables colleagues to put themselves forward, empowering individuals at every level to take ownership of their development and explore the breadth of opportunities available across our organisation.
The impact of the EDP continues to be significant, supporting our goal to upskill employees and prepare the business for future needs. Over the past four years, 477 colleagues have completed the programme, with 101 progressing into new roles and 70 moving into different business units, demonstrating the programme’s ability to enhance capability, broaden business understanding, and help colleagues shape rewarding careers with Tarmac.
FRONTLINE LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME
Our frontline leaders play a crucial role in how work gets done every day, shaping team culture, keeping people safe, supporting colleagues and driving performance across our operations. To support them, our Front‑Line Leadership Programme (FLP) has been developed with input from across the business, giving leaders practical skills and behaviours to help them build effective teams and handle the challenges they face on the ground.
In 2025, the programme expanded beyond operational roles to include colleagues from functions such as finance, IT and communications, creating blended cohorts that strengthen relationships and collaboration across the business. Since the programme launched in 2021, nearly 500 colleagues have completed the FLP, with a further 70 set to finish in 2026 and another 70 already waiting to begin, demonstrating its continued impact on building leadership capability and supporting development across the business.
The programme is supported by two master trainers who not only deliver training within Tarmac but also provide train‑the‑trainer support across CRH companies, including CUBIS and Roadstone. Together, these efforts are helping us grow confident, capable leaders who can support their teams, enable progression, and contribute to the strong, people‑centred culture we want to build for the future.
PEOPLE MANAGER FUNDAMENTALS
We recognise that managers play a vital role in engaging our teams, driving strong business performance, and helping colleagues build fulfilling careers. To support them in this responsibility, 2025 saw the launch of People Management Fundamentals, a suite of bitesize learning modules designed for all supervisors and managers across the business. The modules give managers the practical tools they need to apply our people policies confidently and consistently.
Developed in response to insights from Your Voice, our annual employee survey to help shape how we continue to build a healthy, high‑performing workplace, the programme is complemented by the introduction of the People Manager Charter, which sets out clear expectations of what great people leadership looks like at Tarmac.
These tools enhance the capability of managers at all levels, reinforcing the behaviours and knowledge that sit at the heart of good people leadership. Combined with clearer policies and practical guidance, they support managers to better engage teams, encourage development and create positive workplaces. Together, they reflect our commitment to upskilling colleagues and building the leadership strength our business needs for the future.
PREPARING OUR PEOPLE FOR A DIGITAL FUTURE
As technology and data rapidly reshape our industry, transforming how we work, make decisions and create value, it’s vital that we invest in our people, equipping them with the skills to confidently harness the power of data. Supporting this, we have partnered with Multiverse to give our employees the opportunity to undertake professional on-the-job apprenticeships to develop the technical and analytical skills needed to turn data into actionable insights.
As well as delivering business benefits, it supports our people to develop critical technical and analytical skills in a changing work environment and build communication confidence through storytelling and presentation of findings. In 2025 we had 31 successful completions, with 26 colleagues gaining distinctions and 5 gaining merits.
GENDER PAY GAP REPORT
Our aim is for Tarmac to be a workplace where everyone has the same chance to develop and progress, supported by an environment that is safe, inclusive and welcoming to all. We operate in a sector that has traditionally attracted more men than women, and we recognise the need to help shift that balance. We are focused on making construction accessible and appealing to everyone, and on creating a workplace where all colleagues feel included and able to succeed. Our Gender Pay Gap Report sets out the steps we are taking to keep moving forward on inclusion and equality at Tarmac.
View our Gender Pay Gap Report
LOOKING FORWARD
Going into 2025 we will continue with the roll out of our career development framework, MyCareer, to further support the growth and development of our employees. We aim to refresh of our Employee Communities, which provide a space for individuals to share ideas, voice concerns, and collaborate, helping us better understand different individual needs and perspectives.
