CI/SfB

August 2011

(Ff3)

Sustainable performance and growth

Corporate social responsibility

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John Lambert, Director and General Manager

Products: Glamis Red, Regency Ashlar

Project title: Crewe Hall Hotel, Hotel Extension and Leisure Complex

Client: QHotels Group

Contractor: Eric Wright Group

Architect: Brocklehurst Architects

We manufacture and supply a diverse and innovative range of concrete masonry, roof tiles and slates along with stone products, employing around 250 people across 7 manufacturing plants, offices and depots.

Our visionOur strategic vision is to be ‘a customer focused supplier to the UK construction industry and to be recognised for providing innovative products and services in a spirit of collaboration for the success of all stakeholders’. Our values are embodied in our commitment to corporate social responsibility.

In tandem with other CRH companies, we require our managers to conduct business in a socially responsible manner. We are committed to being responsible employers, responsible members of the community, and to operating our business in an ethical manner.

Our Social Policy is to:

• Comply, at a minimum, with all applicable legislation and to ensure that our social stewardship moves towards our industry’s best practice

• Ensure that our employees, contractors and suppliers are aware of the Group’s social responsibilities

• Manage our businesses in a fair and equitable manner, meeting all our social responsibilities as an employer

We take our social responsibility very seriously

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Polished Precast Autumn, Da’wah Academy, Leicester.

Forticrete is part of CRH plc, the international building materials group, which has its HQ in Ireland and employs approximately 75,000 people in 35 countries worldwide.

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Front cover

Shearstone™ and Cast Stone™ at Welch Way, Marriotts Walk, Witney, Oxford.

• Apply the principle of equal opportunity, valuing diversity regardless of age, gender, disability, creed, ethnic origin or sexual orientation, while insisting that merit is the ultimate basis for recruitment and selection decisions

• Ensure that we deal with our suppliers and customers in accordance with our Code of Business Conduct and the CRH plc Code of Conduct

We are aware that we form an integral part of the communities in which we operate. We are committed to ensuring that the genuine needs, views and interests of the local community are taken into consideration and we are sensitive to the impact our operations may have on our neighbours, particularly those in the immediate vicinity of our manufacturing facilities.

We have a well-established practice of supporting well-focused initiatives in education, environmental protection and job creation at a corporate level. At business unit level, our support is very much focused on worthy local neighbour and community initiatives. All our support initiatives are monitored centrally and reported annually to the CRH Board.

We require all our business units to operate in an environmentally responsible manner and achieving set environmental policy objectives at all locations is a management imperative. Our environmental policy is endorsed and reviewed regularly by senior management and is accessible to all members of staff and the general public.

Our environmental policy is to:

• As a minimum, comply with the requirements of all relevant legislation, regulations and other requirements

• Be good neighbours in the community in which we operate and investigate any matters brought to our attention

• Recognise the benefits of continual improvement and remain committed to maintaining a Management System to comply with the requirements of BS EN ISO 14001

• Reduce to the best practical minimum, the environmental impact of emissions to land, water, air and noise from our activities

• Maintain a high standard of environmental awareness of all employees, contractors and suppliers

The resources and processes that we have put in place are focused on achieving industry best practice standards at all of our locations.

To ensure the company adheres to its environmental policies a series of periodic internal and external audits and monthly inspections are carried out.

We are committed to investing in a wide range of environmental improvements across all of our activities. Plant upgrades typically

EMS 74048

Continually sustaining environmental performance

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Medici® Polished Diamond White, Splitface® and Textured Diamond White masonry Mid Cheshire College, Winsford, Cheshire.

Product: Bespoke Ashlar Cast Sone™

Colour: Bath, Buff & Portland

Project title: Excelsior Academy Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Client: Excelsior Academy Trust

Contractor: Surgo Construction

Architect: The Howard Litchfield Partnership

Forticrete takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously and this is evidenced by the fact that each of our manufacturing plants is certificated to the International Environmental Standard BS EN ISO 14001: 2004 and has been awarded BES 6001 for responsible sourcing.

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include process yield optimisation, increased recycling, better energy efficiency, emission reduction, together with improvements in ergonomics and safety. This sustained investment programme has helped us achieve and maintain relevant legislative standards and best practice.

Masoncrete reduces landfill wasteIn line with the environmental objective and target of reducing waste to landfill and also to reduce fuel consumption, the Forticrete Masoncrete Factory has installed two biomass wood burning units.

Unit one is located within the mould making department and is used to incinerate small off-cuts. During the winter months the generated heat helps to warm the machine shop and the mould assembly room. The second larger unit is located within the main production facility. This larger unit burns redundant moulds and broken pallets from the Masoncrete factory and other sites from within the Forticrete. The heat generated from the unit is the primary source of heating for the production facility.

Prior to this the factory was heated via space heaters fuelled by gas oil. The site has, therefore, seen an annual fuel reduction in excess of 14,000 litres.

In total the amount of waste wood incinerated instead of going to landfill, is in excess of 120 tonnes per annum. Including waste disposal costs to the group, savings are circa £20,000 per annum. The wood burning unit fully complies with the relevant legislation regarding smoke emissions.

We are conscious that to achieve true sustainability, we must take into consideration all four of the ‘pillars’ that sustain our future wellbeing:

• Social progress

• Protection of the environment

• Prudent use of resources

• Maintenance of economic growth

Forticrete has been awarded the highest performance rating of “excellent” in six out of seven factory assessments for the responsible sourcing standard, BES 6001. The BES 6001 standard demonstrates that a building material is sustainable and has been produced in a way that has minimised its environmental impact. We received the accreditation for all our product groups – roofing, stone and masonry, covering all our manufacturing sites.

The prudent use of resources is high on our agenda and means so much more than the re-cycling of paper at all our our office and factory locations, minimising water usage by installing push-operation taps, turning off lights when they are not necessary and computers when we go home at night - although all of these are important and are all part of our ethos.

We look to source our raw materials from responsible suppliers who can demonstrate a commitment to sustainability.

We are constantly aware of our responsibility to future generations and this awareness permeates all of our activities, from the simplest day-to-day operations to the incorporation of sustainability targets in the establishment of long-term partnerships with our supply chain and the achievement of the responsible sourcing standard BES 6001.

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Enhancing sustainability through constant vigilance

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From left to right: Phil King, Technical Manager, Forticrete. John Adnitt, Engineering Manager, Forticrete. Nigel Fenson, Development Manager, BSI.

Products: Cast Stone™ Bath, Shearstone™ Cotwold Village Cottage Walling

Project title: Welch Way, Marriotts Walk, Witney, Oxford

Client: Simon Development

Contractor: Simons Construction

Architect: Simons Design

A truck delivering GGBS (ground granulated blastfurnace slag) which

we use at Thornley, Cebastone and Masoncrete as an environmental

replacement for cement.

All main suppliers are regularly assessed through the use of questionnaires and site visits to ascertain their corporate social responsibiliy standards for quality management, environment, health and safety and responsible sourcing.

For instance, we insist that a minimum of 95% of the wooden pallets we use are sourced from suppliers with a Forestry Stewardship Council certificate which guarantees they are created from sustainable resources.

Our supply chain agreements include close investigation of our key suppliers’ environmental credentials and take into account their geographical locations to enable us to optimise logistics.

Optimising transport is a key issue to a ‘heavyside’ building products manufacturer and we are constantly striving to improve this - by working closely with our world class supplier. Our ‘on time, in full’ strategy is never compromised by our responsibility to a highly efficient logistic system.

Significant environmental benefits are also gained through the recycling of used materials. For example, we use secondary materials such as ground granulated blast furnace slag in place of cement, converting it to prime concrete products with considerable benefits, not the least of which is a reduction in waste for landfill.

Safety begins with me

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Regency® Ashlar Terracotta, Textured Precast Pewter Office Development, Morton Palms, Darlington.

In addition to our own stringent policy and procedures, Forticrete has fully embraced the requirements of the fundamentals for eliminating fatalities as laid down by our parent company CRH plc.

These fundamentals address the 10 key issues of safety management which have attributed to accidents and incidents within our industry sector during the past decade and they are as follows:

• Risk assessment: All activities are risk assessed. Where the assessment shows a risk to the person undertaking the activity, the assessment is documented and appropriate means to reduce the risks are implemented.

• Mobile plant and pedestrian safety: All mobile plant is operated by trained personnel. Each piece of equipment is fitted with audible and visual warning systems. Where technically possible, the forward and reverse speed of all our mobile plant is restricted to 16kph & 5kph. We are working with our suppliers to fit automatic reverse braking systems.

• Isolation of operating machinery: All dangerous machinery can only be accessed through gates fitted with modern power isolation locks. Operators are trained in lock out and tag out procedures and regular checks are carried out on the integrity of the safety systems.

• Machine guarding: In all our production plants machinery is guarded to the best possible standards. The integrity of our guarding is regularly assessed by operators and senior management and, where necessary, replaced irrespective of cost.

At Forticrete, we believe the health, the safety and the welfare of all our employees, visitors and contractors are the foundations of everything we do as a company. This philosophy has enabled the management team to monitor year on year progress in safety performance, proven with the achievement of the British Precast Gold award for Health and Safety improvements for two consecutive years.

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Products: Hardrow® Duets®, Forest, Dusk, Sunset and Wheat

Project title: Honeycombe Beach Boscombe, Bournemouth

Client: Barratt Homes

Contractor: Bracknell Roofing

Architect: HGP Architects

• Confined space entry: Forticrete operates a strict policy regarding confined space working. We use only trained contractors to carry out work in confined spaces such as silos and deep storage aggregate bins.

• Working at heights: All work at height activities are fully assessed and appropriate protective equipment is provided. Employees engaged in work at height activities are fully trained.

• Lifting operations: All users of lifting equipment, static or mobile are trained in the operation of the equipment. Specific areas where lifting takes place are designated “out of bounds” to personnel during lifting. Documented checks are carried out on personnel competency, equipment certification and loading rates.

• Overhead and underground utility dangers: A documented risk assessment is carried out for all underground work and includes surveys for utility lines. Similarly a documented risk assessment will be carried out for all lifting operations and for the use of mobile cranes and excavators taking specific account of overhead utility lines.

• Use of Personal Protective Equipment: Forticrete strictly enforces the wearing of appropriate PPE where required. Basic PPE, e.g. hearing protection, is freely available to all employees, with more specific PPE available for none routine activities.

• Conveyance and Storage of materials under pressure: All pressurised conveying and storage systems for solids, liquids and gases are designed with pressure relief systems which are regularly checked. Additional checks are independently carried out on the safety system and the integrity of silos.

Innovative products that don’t cost the earth

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This is key to our company strategy, and also forms an important part of Best Practice exchanges.

There is also increasing recognition of the environmental benefits of many of our established products which allow energy consumption to be reduced.

The benefits of using concrete products in new home building are recognised within the Code for Sustainable Homes and the Green Guide to Specification, where constructions that use both masonry and roof tiles are awarded an A or A+ rating.

We introduced an ‘Eco’ branding scheme for product development some 10 years ago to enable our customers to instantly recognise that our products have high environmental credentials. These products have various benefits over traditional products.

As a consequence of our manufacturing facilities conforming to the quality standard BS EN ISO 9001, environmental management standard BS EN ISO 14001 and the responsible sourcing standard BES 6001, all of our products carry an ‘Eco’ mark.

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ECOBLOCK ECOBLOCK

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P L U S

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Anstone® Buff, Stone Cottage, West Yorkshire.

Together with our commitment to act as a socially responsible corporate citizen, Forticrete views the development of products to specifically benefit the environment as a significant opportunity.

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Products: Gemini® Sunrise Blend

Project title: Barratt Homes, Waters Edge, Stourport on Severn

Client: Liberty Roofing, Wolverhampton

Contractor & Barratt Homes Architect: West Midlands Ltd

Where a product has additional benefits which are not recognised by The Green Guide to Specification, then we have distinguished them with our ‘eco-plus’ logo to allow their unique qualities to be acknowledged.

We were awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for our innovative and ground-breaking Gemini® roof tile which offers significant environmental benefits in reducing transport, packaging and timber usage when compared to ‘traditional’ plain tiles. In addition, its manufacture reduces CO2 emissions by around 40% and this significant fact has seen us move away from plain tile manufacture. Consequently, our Gemini® range carries the E-plus logo.

All of our technical and sales team hold CSCS cards under the Construction Skills Certification Scheme.

In Health and Safety all our Supervisory Staff and Works Managers are trained to NEBOSH or IOSH standards, the standards ensure all activities under their management are carried out in a safe manner. All employees have specific training relevant to their employment and safety awareness training covering all legal requirements and company policy.

All employees undergo health surveillance, typically biennially. This also includes remote workers such as the external sales force who are invited to Well Being Clinics.

All users of company vehicles undertake an online Individual Driver Risk Assessment. Further training is provided through driver workshops which focus on areas of improvement.

We comply with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, and a provision in the UK Combined Code, under which the company has to put procedures in place which facilitate employee complaints or confidential or anonymous submission of information or to raise, in confidence, concerns regarding accounting or auditing matters.

Forticrete has established procedures for handling employee concerns. Our Code of Business Conduct refers to the company’s internal grievance procedures and indicates the methods by which employees may communicate internally any concerns that they may have.

The company has also established confidential telephone hotlines for employees concerns and all in the company have been informed of this facility.

Caring for our workforce is a prime responsibility

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Shearstone™ Banes Weathered and Cast Stone™ Bath dressings, Barratt Homes, Paulton, Bristol.

l to r: John Lambert, Forticrete’s Director and General Manager, Michael Woolhead

and Town Mayor, Councillor Cursons.

On the 21st May 2011 Cebastone passed 2000 days since last Lost Time Accident.

(recorded 29/10/2005)

The training of all our employees in the areas of Health and Safety, Environmental, and Quality Management forms an integral part of our business planning and operational procedures.

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Products: Astra-Glaze®, Rothwell Blue

Project title: Redcar Primary Care Hospital, Redcar

Client: NHS Redcar and Cleveland

Contractor: Sir Robert McAlpine

Architect: _space Architecture

Accident dataPerformance in improving and reducing accidents and injuries within Forticrete has continued to make steady progress during the last 5 years. We have achieved an unprecedented low number of Lost Time Accidents (LTA).

Subsequently our severity ratio (number accident days lost/number of hours worked x 100,000) has dramatically fallen. Current statistics are available on request.

Recognition of long serviceTwo Forticrete employees recently celebrated their long service achievements at our Leighton Buzzard roof tile factory. Michael Woolhead (pictured above) for 40 years in the business and Rodney Crowder for 25 years at Masoncrete.

The Town Mayor, Councillor Cursons, was also in attendance on the day, to recognise the contribution that Forticrete has made to the town since it was established in 1945.

Community supportWe are proud to support our communities and as such we sponsor a number of local teams including Darley Dale Juniors Football Club Under 7’s and Buckingham Rugby Union Football Club - Mini, Junior and Senior sections.

The Northern Stars Under 10 Ice Hockey team, based in Newcastle, is voluntarily supported by Vince Kelly, our Masonry Site Manager.

This is a continuous process of capital expenditure company-wide that offers not only environmental but also commercial benefits.

Some highlights include:We have already mentioned that Masoncrete factory is reducing waste to landfill. We’re also reducing emissions through the use of low sulphur gas oil in curing; conserving energy via new heat retention doors on the kiln, enabling the boiler to be switched off 2 days per week and through the installation of a new energy efficient compressor, which on its own is reducing C02 emissions by some 67 tonnes. We’re also recycling timber pallets and the removal of underground storage tanks has eliminated potential damage to the environment. Wherever possible raw material product waste is recycled by third parties.

Our Thornley manufacturing plant is using borehole water for its production; recycling all of its reclaimed material and has reduced CO2 emissions year on year through the installation of a vapour curing system.

Continually improving process technology

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Textured Twinbloc™ Ivory and Pewter, Cardinal Hume School, Gateshead.

As a manufacturer, we are fully aware of the impact our operations can have on the environment and are committed to creating sustainable process solutions that reduce CO2 emissions, minimise waste and preserve natural resources.

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Products: Bespoke and Standard Cast Stone™

Project title: C&A, Bournemouth

Client: Charles Church Developments

Contractor: Dean & Dyball Construction

Architect: Trinity Architects

To reduce manual lifting at Anstone®

Works, we have installed mechanical lifting aids in the form of vacuum lifters

into the process lines.

This same technology has also been installed at our Cebastone, Masoncrete and Leighton Buzzard plants. The innovative process provides the additional environmental benefit of reducing CO2 emissions by ‘locking’ carbon dioxide inside the product, preventing its escape into the atmosphere.

At the state-of-the-art roof tile manufacturing facility in Leighton Buzzard, the highest levels of efficiency in energy usage, production and packaging processes have been incorporated from the outset. These include innovations in the use of thermally efficient kilns and the recycling of 100% of process water.

Improvements in manual handling techniques have been a key investment at Stretton factory where we have developed a vacuum pad system to lift products via pneumatic cylinders – this is a highly ergonomically friendly system with auto lifting tables.

Similarly we have installed the latest vacuum lifting equipment at Anstone and Thornley plants.

Due to the competitive nature of our markets, customer satisfaction and our business reputation are vitally important to our continuing success and growth.

Our customers’ commitments to achieving excellence in sustainability throughout their supply chains have, in no small part, driven our own. Many of the long-term partnership agreements we have established with some of the major UK construction companies are reliant on our ability to demonstrate continual improvement in environmental performance.

Client list:

• Barratt Plc

• Carillion

• Bradfords Buildings Supplies

• Brickability

• Bricklink

• E.H. Smith

• Laing O-Rourke

• Miller Construction

• Miller Homes

• Persimmon Homes

• Redrow Homes

• Shepherd Construction

• Southdale Homes

• Taylor Maxwell

• Taylor Wimpey

• Travis Perkins

Building friendships with our customers

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Hardrow® Twilight and Cast Stone™ in Bath, David Wilson Homes, Moorbrook Mills, New Mill, Holmfirth.

Working closely with, and listening to the needs of our customers, has become part of our company philosophy that has driven product and service developments to mutual benefit.

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Products: Textured, Florentine® & Precast

Project title: Wellbeck College, Loughbourgh

Client: The Ministry of Defence

Contractor: Interserve

Architect: HLM Architects

We also work very closely with the following:

• Avonside Group

• BAM Construction

• Irvine Whitlock

• Balfour Beatty / Mansell

• MBBC Subcontractors

In 2006 we were awarded ‘most improved environmental performance’ by David Wilson Homes and, in 2007, moved to number 2 in their entire supply chain of almost 100 suppliers. Monitoring required us to show evidence of our operations in such areas as environmental policy, specification of products and materials, CO2 emissions, vehicle usage, recycling and landfill, packaging, energy and water use, product life cycles and pollution prevention.

Achieving the Building Confidence Accreditation Standard, awarded by leading supply chain specialist Achilles, reduces the need for multiple audits and increases the confidence customers can have in Forticrete’s products, policies and procedures.

Constantly learning, sharing and measuring

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Astra Glaze® Cobalt Blue, The Charter School, Dulwich.

This process is vital to our commercial as well as operational development.

The development of our personnel is key to our future and we have training programmes in place at all levels to ensure continuing professional and personal development.

Being part of CRH plc enables us to share knowledge from around the globe and our personnel are regular contributors to Best Practice groups within our parent organisation.

Selected senior managers from around the CRH Group regularly come together to focus on corporate and business strategy, organisational culture and the latest developments in management science. These programmes also draw on high calibre international contributors and include inputs from the Group Chief Executive and his senior colleagues.

Our commitment to best practice translates from corporate to business unit and on to individual site initiatives aimed at continuous improvement through sharing and learning.

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Product: Medici®, Black MTH 27 (Special Colour)

Project title: Newcastle Library, New Bridge Street, Newcastle

Client: Newcastle City Council & Kajima Newcastle Libraries Ltd

Contractor: Tolent Construction

Architect: Ryder Architecture

Shearstone® factory’s new software, installed in 2011 – proof of measurement in our business.

Anstone® personnel taking part in a presentation by Kathryn Pepper, HR department as part of the Company’s

commitment to training of the Equality Act in April 2011.

They are particularly valuable in ensuring that the CRH culture and approach to business is understood, applied and developed throughout the organisation.

Our processes are regularly assessed by third parties to enable us to achieve and maintain our accreditations to BS EN 9001:2008 for our quality systems, BS EN 14001:2004 for our environmental performance and BES 6001 for responsible sourcing.

To enable Forticrete to continue to reduce its carbon footprint we are registered with with Environment Agency for the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (formerly known as the Carbon Reduction Commitment).

We also measure our performance through biennial externally-sourced customer and employee surveys, which provide us with valuable insights into our performance and benchmarks from which to provide continuous improvement.

Forticrete Masonry

Thornley Station Industrial Estate

Salters Lane

Shotton Colliery

Durham

DH6 2QA

Tel: 01429 838001

Fax: 01429 836206

Email: masonry@forticrete.com

Forticrete Roofing

Boss Avenue

Off Grovebury Road

Leighton Buzzard

Bedfordshire

LU7 4SD

Tel: 01525 244900

Fax: 01525 850432

Email: roofing@forticrete.com

Forticrete Stone

Kiveton Park Station

Kiveton Park

Sheffield

S26 6NP

Tel: 01909 775000

Fax: 01909 775043

Email: walling@forticrete.com

Email: caststone@forticrete.com

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Information on the complete range of Forticrete products can be found on the Internet at

www.forticrete.co.uk

Forticrete, Hardrow, Duets, Gemini, Medici, Regency, Florentine, Shearstone, Ecoblock, Ecoslate, Ecowall, Ecotile, the Plus device and the E device are registered trademarks of Forticrete Ltd.

CRH is a registered trademark of CRH plc.

Anstone is a registered trademark of Ibstock Brick Ltd.

Astra-Glaze-SW is a registered trademark of Trenwyth Industries, Inc.

The ‘F’ Logo, Cast Stone and Twinbloc are trademarks of Forticrete Ltd.

This document does not form part of any contract and Forticrete cannot accept liability for any errors or omissions.

In order to maintain its position as a market leader, Forticrete operates a policy of continuous product development and therefore reserves the right to alter specifications without notice.

BS EN 490 KM 11081

All products sold by Forticrete are sold subject to Forticrete’s Terms and Conditions of Sale, a copy of which is available on request.

© Forticrete Ltd. 2011. All rights reserved.