GRS Group History
1970 - 2000
The pioneering early years
From humble beginnings more than half a century ago, GRS – originally ‘Galliford Road Stone’ – has grown to become the country’s largest trader, transporter and handler of construction aggregates and waste materials, plus associated services.
The company gained its independence after a management buy-out from Galliford in 1997 and actively recruited a team of the most dynamic self-starters, including an aspiring salesman called Jon Fisher – now GRS Chief Executive. They became part of an ambitious new team with a can-do attitude and a desire to change the world.
That pioneering spirit – still at the heart of GRS today – helped the young firm to achieve rapid success. Trading bulk aggregates in the Midlands and South East, GRS built relationships and a reputation for customer service that led to the company’s early involvement in some of the UK’s major construction schemes.
It wasn’t long before the firm’s success led to the formation of a sister company for bagged aggregates, GRS Bagging, just three years later. Taking on a growing network of bagging plants, the business focused on giving merchants and retailers a first-class service.
2000 - 2012
Realising a vision for growth
Both GRS businesses – GRS Roadstone (now GRS Trading) and GRS Bagging (now GRS Building Products) – continued to grow through the 2000s with complementary joint ventures in waste management and rail freight in key locations, in a drive to expand the reuse of recycled and secondary materials,
GRS was among the first to work with BRE (the Building Research Establishment) to identify suitable uses for what was largely considered as ‘waste’ by the construction industry.
GRS became involved in more and more major infrastructure projects– including the likes of Heathrow Terminal 5, Wembley Stadium and the M6 Toll – allowing the business to expand as it picked up work with more and more Tier 1 clients. Demonstrating remarkable resilience during the economic downturn, GRS continued to perform well, growing into new markets, trading a wider variety of materials for recycling, and adding to its network of bagging plants.
In 2012, a second management buy-out led by Jon Fisher unlocked faster expansion with a new focus on people development. As the new CEO, Jon set about delivering his own vision for GRS, to create the only nationwide business of its kind, serving British construction with materials, waste services and end-to-end logistics.
That vision then led to further strategic acquisitions, joint ventures and commercial partnerships that have become a hallmark of the GRS business model. It’s one of the reasons why GRS was named among the highest climbers in the Sunday Times top track 250 growth companies for four years running.
2012 - 2020
Becoming a nationwide player
During 2015 and 2016, after expanding into the North, East and South West, 2017 proved to be a seminal year for GRS.
Firstly, the company acquired West Country building materials firm Maen Karne in January 2017, followed by two further bagging plants in the north. Then at the end of the same year came the acquisition of London infrastructure services and marine freight business S Walsh & Sons, which helped shape the company’s newest division, GRS Integrated Solutions, including its contracting arm, ISC and marine business, ISM.
Soon after a GRS-led venture called Rail Stone Solutions (RSS) started to secure key contracts on HS2 which led to GRS becoming by far the biggest aggregates supplier to the UK’s biggest infrastructure project.
2020 - Present
Uniquely positioned for sustainability
In recent years GRS has made further acquisitions and joint ventures, complementing the company’s end-to-end solutions. As a result, today GRS occupies a unique position, employing well over 800 people at 50 locations nationwide, from trading offices and bagging plants to rail depots and recycling centres. Between them they trade, transport, process and supply around 20 million tonnes of materials each year.
Seeing the opportunity to increase circularity through the use of industrial by-products as aggregates, especially in London and the South East, GRS made the move to become an exclusive supplier of high-quality secondary and recycled aggregates, applying its rail, river and sea freight capabilities to deliver materials with the lowest possible carbon footprint. This is the strongest demonstration so far of the company’s commitment to zero waste and zero carbon.