Lee Sleight became CEO of Holcim UK in August 2024, having previously been Managing Director of the company’s Readymix Concrete and Aggregates divisions during an impressive 20-year-plus career in the British construction industry. Guy Woodford spoke to him about his leadership role and the growth strategy for one of the UK’s largest building materials suppliers.
Significantly growing Holcim UK’s work with local communities surrounding the company’s 200 sites and further strengthening Holcim UK’s major role in the Peak Cluster partnership, a planned carbon dioxide transport pipeline to decarbonise 40% of the UK’s cement and lime industry, are among Lee Sleight’s biggest highlights of his first year as Holcim UK CEO.
“One of the things I remind our people is that while we’ve got big aspirations, we have 200 sites across the country that are in 200 local communities, and we have 200 sets of local employees with local construction projects to deliver for those local communities that we ultimately serve.
“We have dramatically increased our social initiatives. This includes a lot of [our people] volunteering to help with local projects and making donations to them. We are bringing local communities more into what we are trying to achieve. People really like it when we explain how we’re trying to make sustainable construction a reality. They want to help us and the broader construction industry with that.
“I live in Lincolnshire and my local quarry is [Holcim UK] Woodhall Spa. When we had major floods last year, our team was out there working with the local community to protect the area. It was very inspiring.
“If you also look at our Aggregates business, we’ve done some great restoration work and recently won a big biodiversity award in that space.”
In July 2025, Sleight and his colleagues at Holcim UK welcomed the National Wealth Fund’s (NWF) £28.6 million investment in the Peak Cluster partnership.
Led by Progressive Energy, the May 2023-launched project is a partnership involving Holcim UK, Breedon, Tarmac, and SigmaRoc, all of which are owners of cement and lime plants in Derbyshire and Staffordshire. It includes Holcim UK’s cement plant in Cauldon, Staffordshire, which employs over 140 people and can produce up to one million tonnes of cement annually.
The manufacturing of cement involves heating the primary materials, triggering a chemical reaction that releases carbon dioxide (CO2) as a byproduct. For the cement industry to reach net zero and decarbonise, it is essential to capture and store the CO2 created through carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.
The Peak Cluster project aims to cut annual carbon emissions from its partners by three million tonnes a year from 2032 – a quarter of yearly CO2 output for the area – by capturing carbon dioxide from the plants and transporting it via pipeline to be permanently locked away under the East Irish Sea in disused gas fields run by Morecambe Net Zero (MNZ).
The NWF investment will be used to further develop the project through to a Final Investment Decision (FID) in 2028. This will include the successful completion of Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) and other studies that will underpin the Development Consent Order (DCO) process.
Peak Cluster will safeguard over 2,000 existing jobs and create an additional 1,500 roles throughout the project’s construction and operational phases. A total of 13,000 jobs could be made and secured in the Midlands and North West through the wider Peak Cluster and MNZ project.
In October 2025, global consultancy Arup was appointed by Peak Cluster Limited, the project’s operating company, to lead the Environmental Impact Assessment and prepare technical documentation for the Development Consent Order (DCO) for what is set to become the world’s largest cement and lime decarbonisation initiative.
“Peak Cluster is a real industry collaboration. To make it happen, we’ve needed to engage the whole value chain,” says Sleight. “In our industry, to make sustainable construction a reality, partnership and collaboration are the way forward. I’m really proud that we’ve managed to bring several stakeholders together to sign [into being] the prestigious Peak Cluster Limited. It’s the first key milestone in the industry decarbonisation legacy, going a long way to protecting the industry and jobs. We want to decarbonise rather than deindustrialise the UK [construction materials] industry.”
Sleight heads a company with nearly 4,000 employees that has long been a key subsidiary of Holcim, headquartered in Switzerland and one of the world’s largest building materials groups.
“We’ve had an exciting and challenging year. It’s been exciting with the launch of our new 2030 Growth Strategy and becoming Holcim UK [previously Aggregate Industries] during the year. Becoming Holcim UK has been energising for our people and has been extremely well received by our customer base. You see a lot of pride in our people being part of a large organisation that wants to grow and has sustainability at its core. Our goal is to make sustainable construction a reality. We have a strategy that resonates around ‘People, Purpose and Performance’.
“On the most challenging side, it would be the macro environment. It continues to be a very soft [UK construction materials] market. We are really encouraged by the Government’s Industrial Strategy, which we now want to see executed. We strongly hope to see a ramp-up in housebuilding and infrastructure projects, two pillars of the UK construction industry. From our supply chain side, we absolutely have the capacity to meet increased demand.”
Sleight emphasises growing interest in Holcim UK’s sustainable products, such as ECOCycle (building products, including aggregates, concrete, and asphalt, containing 10%-100% recycled construction and demolition materials (CDM), ECOPlanet (lower-carbon cement), and its pioneering ECOPact (lower-carbon concrete).
“We are really proud of what we’re doing with our lower-carbon products. We want to increase our ECOPact brand portfolio and are constantly looking at technological advancements to help us lower the carbon in those branded products. We sold millions of tonnes of ECOCycle products last year, and this year, despite a challenging market, we have continued to grow that demand. Customers are predominantly driving the demand for sustainable building products. Demand varies depending on which part of the country you’re in and the type of client you’re working with. We would like to see a greater acceleration of regulations, norms, and standards to drive demand further and push the industry on in this area.”
As well as investing in its [Peak Cluster] Cauldon cement works as part of its increased focus on sustainable construction materials, Sleight says Holcim UK is making a “huge” investment in a state-of-the-art grinding station and storage facility at the Port of Tilbury, London’s principal port, on the River Thames at Tilbury in Essex.
Scheduled for completion on-site and full operational status in 2026, Holcim UK’s Tilbury facility will enable the firm to supply customers 24 hours a day with conventional, low-carbon, and circular cementitious materials via five loading heads.
The primary objective of this strategic investment is to meet the growing demand for sustainable building materials in a rapidly evolving market.
The development investment includes new plant equipment for manufacturing blended cements and lower-carbon cement components, such as GGBS and alternative raw materials derived from construction and demolition materials, as well as establishing a major import hub.
Sleight says Holcim UK’s ongoing investment in sustainable building materials also aligns with the company’s commitment to travel as far as possible along a circular construction path to profitable growth. He cites the company’s Morden Wharf Aggregates & Recycling Centre in Greenwich, London, as a great example of circular construction in action.
“We are really accelerating in this area. London is one of the biggest urban mines in the world. If you look at the global situation, a city the size of Madrid gets built every week. Therefore, making that circular is really important. At Morden Wharf, we collect, process, and sort construction and demolition waste, then send it back as building materials for new projects. To build new from old is really important. Primary aggregates will always have a place in the construction industry, as we can’t meet demand alone from recycled and secondary materials.”
Sleight says that Holcim UK is working closely with the Mineral Products Association (MPA) as part of the British construction materials industry’s collective response to Landfill Tax Reform plans.
Introduced in 1996 to encourage more sustainable waste management practices, the Landfill Tax applies to taxable disposals at landfill sites and, more recently, unauthorised sites. In April 2025, HM Treasury, the UK government’s economic and finance ministry, and HM Revenue & Customs, the UK’s tax, payments and customs authority, launched a consultation on Landfill Tax reform, proposing the removal of the lower rate of Landfill Tax (£4.03 per tonne for inert materials such as rocks and soil) by 2030. In its place, an escalator will be applied to the lower rate until it reaches the standard rate level (currently £126.15 per tonne), with the Qualifying Fines Regime and quarries and dredging exemptions being removed from April 2027. The new Landfill Tax rules will be coupled with increased penalties for illegal disposals.
Stakeholders, including the Mineral Products Association (MPA) and the British Aggregates Association (BAA), have expressed concerns about the economic impact of the Landfill Tax reform proposal, including its potential effects on quarry operators’ ability to carry out site restoration works affordably. Landfill Tax reform consultation closed in July 2025, with a wide range of industries, including quarrying, construction, and recycling, awaiting the UK government’s next steps.
“We absolutely have to ensure that restoration is part of the lifecycle of a quarry, and if [Landfill Tax] exemption is removed from that, it makes it a difficult financial situation. We are lobbying with the MPA hard on that. Continuing the exemption is the right thing to do for the planet and the aggregates industry. The case for it is strong,” says Sleight.
Talking about how he got into the construction materials industry and some of his previous industry roles, he says: “I finished A-Levels at school, and the plan was to study Sports Psychology. It wasn’t for me. I took a year off, and during that time, I ended up getting a job at RMC [Ready Mixed Concrete Ltd]. I loved it and found it all very relatable. My Dad had worked in the construction industry, as a scaffolder, for his entire life, and it just felt right for me.
“My first role was as an administrator. I think I shredded paper for the first four weeks! But I progressed and accelerated through a variety of roles, moving from dispatch and shipping to sales, and before long, I was out on the road selling. I did some qualifications in concrete and aggregates, which came in handy later in my career.
Sleight went on to join Sika, where he held various roles, including commercial and sales positions, as well as leadership roles. He later followed Dragan Maksimovic to Aggregate Industries.
“I’d always had a passion for the programme Grand Designs, and at home we were in the middle of building our own new build house to Passivhaus [ultra green and energy efficient) standard. Dragan challenged me to come and help change the [Aggregate Industries] business to make it more sustainable, and that was music to my ears.”
In Q3 2021, Sleight joined Aggregate Industries as MD of its Readymix division, and two years later moved into the same position in the business’s aggregates division. “When I came in, it was a challenging time. I set about changing the culture, bringing energy and transforming my area of the business.
“I reshaped the team, set expectations, and focused on sustainability through the introduction of ECOPact. We really made a mark on the market with the low-carbon concrete. I then moved across to [the] Aggregates [division], which is a super part of our company.”
Returning to answering Aggregates Business questions linked to his current senior role, Sleight outlines how Holcim UK is utilising advances in digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI).
“Our major plants are fitted with mPredict sensors that communicate with AI [solutions], helping ensure production reliability. We are focused on delivering strong customer service and meeting customer needs, and our Holcim+ app is part of that.”
HOLCIM+ specialises in supplying cement, aggregates, and asphalt, while HOLCIM+ Concrete focuses exclusively on providing concrete products.
Holcim+ enables customers to easily place material orders from anywhere at any time and track those orders in real-time, from dispatch to delivery. Customers can also view and manage invoices, check their account balance and view their entire payment history, all in one place.
Further advantages include seamless communication with customer support whenever you need assistance, as well as quick access to financial statements and the ability to filter transactions to stay on top of business finances. Customers can also monitor key metrics, upload proofs of payment, and get information on current promotions.
Holcim+ Concrete offers similar advantages to Holcim+, while also enabling customers to avoid excessive waiting times on construction sites through the solution’s Smart Spacing Technology, which utilises machine learning to propose recommendations for optimal spacing between trucks, thereby increasing efficiency.
In addition to monitoring deliveries in real-time and receiving notifications with the GPS tracking feature, Holcim+ Concrete users can store records of batching time, departure, pouring, and site departure all in one place. The app also offers direct communication with Holcim UK dispatchers to address last-minute changes. Customers can also use the app to prioritise safety through hazard notifications and access sustainability data.
“We are leading the market in this space, especially in our Readymix business with Holcim+ Concrete. Over 50% of customer orders are placed through the app, giving them increased visibility and flexibility, and better service,” highlights Sleight.
So, what will Holcim UK’s priorities be in 2026, and does Sleight envisage any change in demand for construction materials?
“From a market perspective, the latest stats show that housebuilding applications are continuing to drop off, which is concerning. It’s a trend we’d like to see reversed. We are not expecting strong tailwinds to help drive [construction materials] demand.
“We will continue to prioritise work around our three pillars: People, Purpose and Performance. Our priority is always to ensure that all our colleagues arrive home safely and well at the end of the day. We are in growth mode, both organically and through the acquisition of companies that complement our offerings.
“We will also continue to accelerate our ambitious decarbonisation plans, which include carbon capture, as well as interest in our ECOCycle, ECOPact, and ECOPlanet products. We have also now introduced some 200 places for nature across our sites.
“We have set ourselves ambitious targets for attracting more diverse talent into Holcim UK and the wider [construction materials] industry. We have a talent acquisition team that is doing great work in that area.”
Sleight says he loves the “can-do” attitude he sees daily, working at Holcim UK and in his interactions with the wider construction and construction materials industries.
“The industry is full of humble, down-to-earth people who have a great camaraderie and like to get things done.
“I’ve had a really successful career and been privileged to be supported by some great companies and people. What motivates me now is making sure that we do our bit to make sustainable construction a reality, creating an attractive environment for the next generation of industry talent.”
