Concrete ''industry stalwart'' dies suddenly

Chris Coton, 1343 Hanson UK's concrete technical services manager for the south west, died suddenly on February 26, 2012, the company has revealed.

The 59-year-old began his career at 5051 Pioneer at the Swansea concrete plant in March 1974 and worked for the company for almost 38 years.

He moved to Pioneer Testing Services laboratory at Forest Wood quarry in South Wales in 1983 and switched to the Avonmouth lab in 1990. A year later, he was appointed technicalmanager for the south west and South Wales.
After Hanson acquired Pioneer in 2000 Chris, who was recognised as an expert in the field of concrete technology, became area technical manager. In 2004 he became technical services manager responsible for over 40 plants across the south west and south Wales.

Hanson's national technical director Charlie Jones described Chris as an "industry stalwart".

He added: "He was a great character, and well respected throughout the industry. I will miss him greatly as I am sure many of his colleagues will."