There is to be no place for any of Hope’s senior management team in Breedon’s executive once the acquisition is complete.

Breedon Aggregates expects to complete the takeover of Hope Construction Materials later this summer, adding 900 new employees to its own 1200 as well as substantial assets in quarrying and heavy building materials production.

Breedon has revealed the composition of the expanded 10-man executive committee that will run the enlarged company – and it is predominantly Breedon men in charge. Only two Hope executives make the top table, and they are from Hope’s second tier of management.

The 10 men who will form Breedon’s executive committee, with effect from the date of completion, are:

• Executive chairman – Peter Tom CBE
• Group chief executive – Pat Ward
• Group finance director – Rob Wood
• Chief compliance officer – Ross McDonald
• Group human resources director Stephen Tagg
• Breedon Southern chief executive – Tim Hall
• Breedon Northern chief executive – Alan Mackenzie
• Hope Cement managing director – Ashley Bryan
• Head of strategy & commercial services – Darryl Matthews
• Head of communications & marketing – Stephen Jacobs.

Of the above, only two come from Hope. These are Ashley Bryan, currently Hope’s industrial director, and Darryl Matthews, Hope’s chief strategy officer. Neither is currently on Hope’s six-man management board.

Breedon said that those members of Hope’s executive committee who are not joining the senior team of the enlarged group will remain in their current roles until completion and continue to assist with the smooth integration of the business.

That means that Breedon can find no room for Hope chief executive Chris Plant, who previously ran Lafarge UK’s asphalt and surfacing businesses and has overseen some of the UK’s biggest highway and airport runway schemes. There is also no place for Hope chief operating officer Mike Cowell, CFO Dallas Taylor, HR director Jim Verity or legal director James Sirk.

Although the executive team of 10 white men appears exposed to questions about diversity, Amit Bhatia, currently Hope’s chairman and son-in-law of Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, is expected to join the Breedon board as a non-executive director. Breedon also has one female non-executive director, Susie Farnon, an expert in Channel Islands banking and finance.

Breedon chief executive Pat Ward said: “We’re fortunate to have been able to draw on considerable experience and deep industry knowledge from both companies, and externally, in assembling our executive committee. I believe we have selected a strong team to lead the combined business, which will enable us to continue delivering an outstanding performance in the future.”