Executive Committee

Peter Tom CBE

Executive Chairman

Peter has more than 50 years’ experience in the aggregates industry. He joined Bardon Hill Quarries Limited as a school-leaver in 1956, becoming Managing Director in 1977 and Chief Executive of Bardon Group plc in 1985. He went on to lead the merger of Bardon and Evered plc in 1991 and the enlarged group’s subsequent merger with CAMAS in 1997 to form Aggregate Industries plc.

Following the acquisition of Aggregate Industries by Swiss building materials Group Holcim Limited for £1.8 billion, he served as non-executive Chairman of Aggregate Industries until his resignation in December 2007. Peter was appointed to the Board in 2008 and has been Executive Chairman of Breedon Aggregates Limited since its formation in 2010 through the reverse acquisition of Breedon Holdings by Marwyn Materials, the AIM-listed company he co-founded with Simon Vivian in 2008 to consolidate the smaller end of the heavyside building materials industry. Peter has been Chairman of Leicester Rugby Football Club (Leicester Tigers) since 1997. He is also Chairman of Jacksons (CI) Ltd.

Pat Ward

Group Chief Executive

Pat joined the Company as Group Chief Executive and was appointed to the Board in January 2016.

He has over 30 years’ experience in the aggregates and construction industries in the UK, US and Middle East.  Having held a variety of roles with ARC/Hanson, he joined Aggregate Industries (“AI”) in 1995.  After serving in several general management positions in AI UK’s aggregates and asphalt divisions, in 1999 he moved to Denver as Vice President of AI USA’s West Central Region, later becoming Senior Vice President of that region, which in 2007 expanded to become the Western and Mid-Atlantic Region, employing over 2,000 people.  He was appointed CEO of AI Europe in April 2014, assuming responsibility for an international business with over 4,000 employees.

Rob Wood

Group Finance Director

Rob was appointed to the Board on joining Breedon as Group Finance Director in 2014.  He has over 10 years’ experience in the international building materials industry. Rob qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young and subsequently joined Hanson PLC where he held a number of senior positions including Finance Director Brick continental Europe, Finance Director Building Products UK and Chief Financial Officer Australia & Asia Pacific. Following the acquisition of Hanson PLC by HeidelbergCement AG Rob returned to the UK and joined Drax Group plc as Group Financial Controller. During his time at Drax Group plc he also spent a period of time as Head of M&A.

Alan Mackenzie

Managing Director - Breedon Northern

Alan is Managing Director of our Northern operations, which extend from Stornoway in the Hebrides to northern England. He has spent more than 30 years in the aggregates industry, initially with Wimpey Minerals and then with Tarmac, where he was latterly Contracting Director of the company’s largest region in central England. Alan joined Ennstone in 2001 as Regional Director for North and W est Scotland and in 2002 became Chief Executive of BEAR Scotland (in which Ennstone had a significant shareholding).  He rejoined Ennstone in 2006 as Chief Executive of its Scottish business and when Ennstone was acquired by Breedon in 2010 he became Chief Executive of Breedon Aggregates Scotland, renamed Breedon Northern following Breedon's acquisition of Hope Construction Materials in 2016. Alan is a Past President of the European Asphalt Pavement Association and is currently Chairman of the UK Mineral Products Association Asphalt Committee and the Asphalt Industry Alliance.  He is also immediate past Chairman of the Mineral Products Association in Scotland and a member of the MPA Council.

Mike Pearce

Managing Director - Breedon Southern

Mike joined Breedon in 2018 as Managing Director of the Group's southern division, with operations extending from Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria to Greenhithe in Kent.  He joined the Group from Aggregate Industries, where he was most recently Managing Director of the aggregates division, prior to which he served successively as head of concrete products (including the high-profile Bradstone brand); ready-mixed concrete (including London Concrete); asphalt & contracting; and major projects; before being appointed Commercial Director of Aggregate Industries Europe.  Mike is a member of the Council of the Mineral Products Association and also sits on the West Midlands Regional Council of the CBI.

Jude Lagan

Managing Director - Breedon Cement

Jude has over 30 years’ experience in the construction materials industry.  Following the acquisition of the Lagan Group in 2018 Jude joined Breedon Group as Managing Director of Breedon Cement, responsible for its activities in the UK & Ireland.

The early part of his career was spent in southern England in the asphalt and specialist contracting division of Whitemountain, part of the Lagan Group, eventually becoming Managing Director.  Jude returned to Ireland in 2000 to head up the in-house construction of Lagan Cement’s new €120 million greenfield cement plant 80 kilometres west of Dublin. Following successful commissioning in 2002, Jude was operational director of the cement business, eventually becoming Managing Director of Lagan Cement Group in 2008. He is a member of the Institute of Quarrying and Vice Chairman of the Cement Manufacturers of Ireland.

Terry Lagan

Managing Director - Breedon Republic of Ireland

Terry has worked in the Irish and GB construction industries for more than 30 years.  Following the acquisition of the Lagan Group in 2018 he joined Breedon Group as Managing Director of Lagan, Breedon’s business in RoI.

Terry set up the original Lagan Group business in RoI in 1989, which originally comprised an asphalt production & contracting division along with a bitumen emulsion production plant. The business developed from there to cover the entire island, with operations from Cork to Donegal and Galway to Dublin, becoming the largest independent producer of construction materials in RoI.

Terry previously worked at Tarmac PLC, initially in their R&D laboratory in the West Midlands, before moving into production in the north-west and later joining the contracting division, working on a variety of large-scale projects. 

Mark Kelly

Managing Director - Breedon Northern Ireland

Mark has over 30 years’ experience in the contracting and materials sector, having worked in senior and operational roles on some of the largest and most complex projects in the UK and Republic of Ireland.  He was appointed Managing Director of Breedon Northern Ireland in 2018 following Breedon’s acquisition of the Lagan Group.

Mark joined Lagan in 1997 as Commercial Manager and went on to become Commercial Director of materials and contracting in Northern Ireland before being appointed Managing Director of Whitemountain in 2004.  He assumed additional responsibility for Lagan Bitumen the following year and interim responsibility for Roadmix and Mulholland Brothers in 2007-9.

Mark was appointed to the Board of Lagan Group Ltd in January 2013 and headed Group activities in quarry materials, civil engineering, airfield construction, highway maintenance, bitumen, aggregate export and waste.  He is a member of the Council for the CEF NI and past Chairman of the CEF Civil Engineering Committee. He also served on the QPA NI Executive and as a Board Member of the Business in the Community Employers Forum.

Stephen Tagg

Group Human Resources Director

Stephen joined Breedon Group in May 2016 as Group Human Resources Director, with additional responsibility for overseeing group safety.  He was previously Organisation & Human Resources Director at Aggregate Industries, having spent 21 years with the company in a variety of senior HR roles. He also had responsibilty for the company's health and safety performance, payroll and fleet management. Prior to AI, he worked in Employee Relations and HR roles in the mining industry with British Coal. Stephen is a member of the CBI Employment and Skills Board and a director of the Mineral Products Qualification Council.

Ross McDonald

Group Services Director

Ross joined Ennstone plc as Company Secretary in 2006 and became Chief Compliance Officer of Breedon Aggregates on its formation in 2010.  He was appointed Group Services Director in 2016.  Ross is responsible for, amongst other things, legal and regulatory compliance, legal affairs, corporate governance, insurance and risk management, minerals and planning, and he has a leading role in our M&A team.  Before joining Ennstone he was Company Secretary of Melrose plc (now Melrose Industries plc), McKechnie plc and Assistant Company Secretary of BICC plc (now Balfour Beatty PLC).  Ross has a Bachelor of Laws degree from Edinburgh University and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.

Stephen Jacobs

Head of Communications & Marketing

Steve has overseen Breedon's communications and marketing since the group's creation in 2010.  Prior to joining Breedon, Steve was closely involved in the housebuilding and building materials industries as a communications consultant for more than 20 years, most of which he spent as a partner in FTI Strategic Communications (formerly Financial Dynamics), one of the UK's leading international corporate and financial communications consultancies. He has responsibility for all Breedon Group's internal and external communications and marketing activities.