The MACL business was started by Mark Anderson in 1987 with the MAP business following in 1999 with other businesses being started including Property Development over the following years and together they were known as the Anderson Group and the business operated as a group of companies under Anderson Construction Ltd.

From the day Mark started the business he drove its success and he knew that by looking forward, planning for the future and investing in it with a focus on people that would create longevity for the business. It was always Mark’s ambition to create a legacy for the business so after the 30th year of trading in 2017 Andrew Jay began the process of ensuring the business was fit for the next 30 years with the needs of our clients and our teams being central to the thinking.

This process concluded on the 3rd of April 2023 when Anderson Construction Ltd was reorganised. The MACL Construction Business and the MAP Plant Business were grouped into the Hard Hat Construction Group Ltd. MACL have their head office at Springfield Lodge, Chelmsford and MAP operate from Grays.

Similarly, the property development businesses have been grouped into Anderson Development group ltd.

These two new groups are entirely separate and no longer connected.

Following the creation of the Hard Hat Construction Group Ltd, 100% of the issued share capital in this business has been sold to an Employee Ownership Trust (Trustee Company).

An Employee Ownership Trust (EOT for short) is a form of employee ownership which provides indirect share ownership for employees of the Hard Hat Construction Group Ltd. In the simplest of terms, the beneficiaries of the EOT are the PAYE employees employed within the Hard Hat Construction Group Ltd.

This form of ownership recognises that it is our great people that make our business and we thank them all.

All of our team now have a direct stake in the success of our business and this will only improve the level of service to our clients whose work is so important to us and for which we thank them.

It is important to note that the MACL and MAP business operations have not changed – it is only the ownership structure that has changed. The shares in the business are now owned by what is known as the Trustee Company.

The Trustee company is an essential part of an employee owned business as it owns the shares in the business for the benefit of all the Employees. The Trustee company has an independently appointed Chair and has two Company Directors, Mark Anderson the Founder and former Chairman along with Andrew Short the former CFO on its Board along with two employee Directors who represent the employee groups interests at the highest level within the organisation. Mark Anderson and Andrew Short’s roles are largely “non executive” and they are no longer operational within the day to day business. Andrew Jay remains as CEO, Mark Aldridge remains as CFO, Steve Howe remains as the Managing Director of MACL and Darren Carter remains as the Managing Director of MAP.

As the EOT was formed it was necessary to nominate two trusted and well respected employee directors and these are Mark Stocking and Daryl Bellingham. At some future date we will ask you to confirm their appointment and or nominate replacement employees. 

Individual employees do not own shares – the EOT owns the shares for all the employees benefit.

To achieve the EOT an initial sum of money was gifted from the historic profits of the company to the EOT to enable it to purchase the shares directly from Mark Anderson with an element of the consideration deferred.  Further payments of deferred consideration need to be paid over the coming years. 

This change of ownership structure ensures the future of the business and unifies the existing team who continue to develop the excellent systems and controls that the business already has in place to ensure profitable growth. Working with the existing supply chain partners and other stakeholders, clients can be assured of receiving first class service.

We are a direct result of our peoples experience, capability and unrelenting commitment to our clients to whom we are forever grateful.

As an organisation we are at the heart of creating vibrant new communities and we all take pride in that.

It truly is ‘business as usual’.

Together, building value for all.

By Andrew Jay