News

When we first started writing this blog we explored many different themes and topics to discuss. The idea behind this was to give our audience a different look into our business, and to inform people about what we do. In this blog we want to give you an in-depth look at our people and our staff. In the first instalment of this particular blog, we will be discussing working culture and ethos and how it thrives.

Head Office

Based in Horwich, just off Chorley New Road, our head office is home to not just only our physical offices but also our AMIX Concrete plant and our stone workshop too. After the working day is done the yard at our head office then transforms into a depot for our trucks, all 70 of them!

As with any larger business, our head office is always a hive of activity and today is no exception. As I write this blog entry on the Tuesday afternoon before it is released on the Friday, We have our accounts department working hard on tickets that arrive in their office. Our transport and sales teams are dealing with inbound and outbound enquiries as well as arranging all the logistics that go with transporting aggregates and all forms of stone material.

As for myself, I work on our Digital marketing and Web content. I create content calendars and implement marketing strategies whilst dealing with any IT problems in the office. We also have our company directors who are extremely hands on and not afraid to get stuck in and help out. Finally at our head office we have our HR manager who has a range of responsibilities from recruitment to employee incentives and much more.

Now that we have briefly covered the working structure at our head office let us now explore the working culture in the office and how it is harvested.

Harvesting A Productive Culture

There is a popular saying that goes “A happy workforce is a productive workforce” that relates to every single business in the world. It is a proven fact that statistically workers who have higher job satisfaction will be more productive, this boils down quite simply to investing in people both physically and financially. If you invest in people, they are more likely to invest in you.

I want to tell you a little anecdote about one of my first weeks working for Armstrongs Group. It was about a month into my employment and our CEO was walking through the office chatting to the staff. He walks into my office and what he asked me actually took me back a bit. He asked me if I was happy, but more importantly, asked if I was going home happy and if my partner could see that I was happy. Now this may seem like a small deal to some people, but to me this meant a lot. In all my years working, never had I ever had my employer ask about, not only my happiness, but my partner’s happiness too. I knew from that moment that I was in the right place.

Recruitment

Culture and ethos are a born naturally, as a business you can attempt to influence both, but ultimately it is something that is subconsciously bred by employees. There is always a desirable work culture that is chased by employers and that can be ushered in the right direction with the aid of the recruitment process.

The Armstrongs Group recruit with three things in mind, experience, passion and personality. Once you start looking at recruitment as a jigsaw finding the right pieces to fit the puzzle, rather than an incessant need to fill an empty role, you can start to influence company culture and ethos.

Autonomy

Although our directors are hands on in the business they encourage employee autonomy. Employees are encouraged to think for themselves, and act in the business’ best interest. This freedom really allows for creativity in all forms to thrive, and creative thinking breeds creative culture.

Here in the accounts office (and HR too!) we have a daily lunch club called Salad Club. The concept is simple- each day one member of our team makes a salad for everybody else, taking it in turns as to who the days “chef” is. This small and seemingly irrespective task has a big influence on our culture in our offices. It gives us something to look forward to, allows us to try potential new foods and puts your lunch trust (the best part of the day!) in someone else’s hands.

We also partake in Macmillan coffee morning every year, each member of the team drawing out the name of a baked good they need to make and bring into the office. Culture and ethos are bred naturally; it’s the small supposed insignificant actions and events that create the unique and complex layers of company culture.

The BBC released a fascinating article last year that touches on “The many upsides of a happy workforce” and is a must read for anyone who wants to understand how culture can be bred and influenced. More importantly this article directly correlates to the working life at Armstrongs group.

Careers

If you are passionate and experienced and want to be involved in the ever evolving state of our working culture and ethos, then we warmly welcome you to take a look at our careers page for our latest recruitment opportunities.

 

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On Wednesday 5^th September I had the privilege of leaving our head offices in Horwich and accompanying our Director, Emma Armstrong, to Brinscall Quarry in Chorley. The purpose of our visit was simple: La Sagrada Familia.

Earlier on in the day we had welcomed Charlie Holt from BBC Radio Lancashire to our stone workshop in Horwich. Whilst at the workshop he wanted to see how we cut and prepared the stone from Brinscall Quarry ready for collection to be sent to Barcelona.

Basilica De La Sagrada Familia

Basilica de la Sagrada Familia is  a large unfinished Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. The stone used for the bell towers on the Nativity and Passion facades is sandstone from Montjuic in Barcelona. The quarries in this region were exhausted and closed many years ago thus meaning original stone could only be sourced from demolished buildings. So began a worldwide search for stone that would match that already used. It is through this process that the sandstone from Brinscall Quarry, near Chorley, was selected. It is to the Armstrongs Group pride that since being identified we have shipped many loads of faced stone to be further cut in Barcelona.

Brinscall Quarry

Later on in the day on the Wednesday, We invited Charlie and his digital media team to accompany us to Brinscall to see the stone, and the quarry, up close and personal. It is here where you truly get a feel for the magnitude of the project. Brinscall Quarry covers 40 acres near the town of Chorley and has been operational in excess of one hundred years.

The Extraction

We stayed in the quarry for a good hour showing Charlie around and watching an excavator and loader. In that time they would shift close to 200 tonnes of stone. After watching the excavator closely for some time it became apparent that the way we extract the stone for La Sagrada Familia was somewhat different than other extractions. One side of Brinscall quarry had scorch marks on the rock face from previous blasts- but the other side was almost nothing but pristine sandstone.

The excavator carefully dislodges the stone from the rock face with its long arm using the ripper at the end. Once the stone was dislodged the excavator would unhook the ripper, flip it over and reattach it- all without the driver leaving his cab. The stone would then be transported by the loader to higher ground ready to be picked up by one of our iconic red wagons!

 

Back At Our Yard

Before the Stone is shipped to Barcelona it arrives at our stone workshop. Here our stone mason loads it onto one of our saws to cut a section off. The practice of cutting the stone allows for the architects in Barcelona to have a cross section of the stone. This allows them to assess the structural integrity of the stone and to also see the beautiful beige colouring that is so highly desired.

 

Channel 4’s Building Giants Documentary, which features the Armstrongs group, goes behind the scenes the journey our stone takes and the fascinating problems the architects in Barcelona face when building La Sagrada Familia.

For more information about the La Sagrada Familia Project visit our website here.

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Here at Armstrongs Group, across our Armstrongs Aggregates and AMIX Concrete sites, we believe that if you invest in people that they will invest in you. Our company values: Safety, Responsibility, Customer Focus, Team Orientated, Performance Driven and Entrepreneurial echo more than just hollow words on a page, they are our way of life. They cover a wide variety of differing factors but ultimately aggregate to one thing, Community.

As our brand and social media channels grow, we want to use our position in our communities in a positive manner. We want to help shape and build our local communities, sharing our knowledge and expertise where possible. Teaching, learning, and acting within our communities to provide support and understanding to those in our local areas, Armstrongs Group are dedicated to being Community Strong.

The importance of local community

The importance of community cannot be understated, whether it is in the workplace, in academic institutes or in your neighbourhood; there should always be a sense of community and belonging. The Armstrongs Group has five quarries across the North West and Cumbria, as well as our head offices in Horwich, we are implanted in the centre of many a community, and we want to be a part of those communities.

We may be a company that works in quarries, producing aggregates, ready mix concrete and bespoke cut stone, but we still have a duty to our communities and welcome people to come and see how we work. Our iconic red wagons are easily identifiable and we often get enquiries from the public about coming to see them.

Occasionally we offer academic and community trips to our quarries and have welcomed everyone from schools to geologists, providing an educational and “behind the scenes” visit for all age groups.

For more information on visits to one of our sites or information on how we can assist further in our local communities you can email us on enquiries@armstrongsgroup.com.

 

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