Expansion plans are on the cards for a Bradford firm which produces road covering material.

ARC Bradford Coating Plant, Low Moor, is to be renamed Hanson Aggregates in a re-organisation of the global firm, Hanson.

The move puts more of a focus on the road and building materials part of the Hanson business which is good news for the Common Road site.

The firm, which has been in the city for more than 30 years, currently employs 50 people involved in road covering production and sales and the group's Readymix Concrete business.

The company supplies road coverings and building materials to a number of well-known customers, including the Highways Authority.

The firm sells road covering for a number of major highways including the M62 motorway and the Aire Valley Trunk road and smaller roads in the district.

ARC, which has its northern headquarters in Wetherby, is 60 years old and was acquired by the Hanson Group ten years ago.

The Low Moor site is also used by local builders for materials for houses and offices they are building in the district.

A spokesman for the firm said today: "West Yorkshire - particularly around Bradford and Leeds - is a good area for Hanson with a lot of customers and a lot of potential customers.

"We are well-known in the area and there is room for expansion through acquisition," he added.

He said the new focus of the Hanson Group was on construction materials which meant the West Yorkshire area would be given a new higher profile by the company.

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