Thomas Concrete Group still sees a great potential in Europe's largest market
Gothenburg, 12 July 2022
Thomas Concrete Group is expanding in Europe's largest economy. The Group's German operation, Thomas Betong GmbH, recently acquired a 40-year-old, medium-sized company in Rhineland-Palatinate, which means that it is now represented in six of the country's 16 federal republics.
- Considering that our industry is facing major changes - in combination with the fact that we are owned by the Swedish family-owned Group - I see enormous opportunities for continued expansion on the German market, says Rainer Brings, CEO of Thomas Beton GmbH.
Photo: Rainer Brings, CEO, Thomas Beton GmbH, Germany
Germany is the market where Thomas Concrete Group has the greatest potential to grow.
Despite the fact that the German operation produces almost 1 million cubic meters of concrete per year, it makes only 2 percent of the total market. So far, the business is concentrated in northern Germany in the Federal Republics: Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen, Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Rhineland-Palatinate.
- Since today we are only represented in six out of 16 federal republics, it is not difficult to realize what a great potential we have, says Rainer Brings, CEO of Thomas Beton in Germany, which is part of the Thomas Concrete Group.
Rainer Brings sees a huge advantage in being part of the Swedish family-owned company Thomas Concrete Group.
- Ever since the start in 1965 here in Germany, the Thomas family has had a very high level of trust in the German market, which contributes to the strong image of the company.
There is a total of 1900 concrete plants in Germany.
- Our biggest competitors are large construction giants and listed companies. But there is none of our size, and owned by a family business in Sweden.
Of course, the number of family businesses in the German concrete industry is very large. But they are very small and work largely only in a small part of the country. No one has any activity outside the country's borders.
- Our industry is in the process of a great change. Cement has a high climate impact; the coal fly ash will disappear because of decommissioning of coal-fired power plants – therefore we must find other alternative binders such as ground volcanic rock (pumice).
- The consequence of this will result in new challenges such as longer transports and the need of more and new silos for warehousing. These changes require more extensive investments, perseverance, great knowledge and experience.
- Thanks to the fact that we are part of the Swedish family company, which has been very foresighted and started operations in several countries on two continents, we are much stronger than if we had been one sole player in northern Germany.
- Together as Team Thomas, we have a lot of common experiences, not least in research and development, where we often collaborate with the Group's laboratory C-Lab in Gothenburg.
- It was also thanks to this that we were recently able to expand further by acquiring five plants in the Rhineland-Palatinate region, concludes Rainer Brings.
About Thomas Concrete Group AB
Thomas Concrete Group is a Swedish family-owned group that produces and distributes high-quality concrete products and services. The company was established in 1955 in Karlstad, Sweden, by Martin Thomas, and today has operations in the USA, Poland, Germany, Norway and Sweden. The head office is in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Group has around 2,120 employees, produces 5.6 million m3 of concrete, and had a turnover of approximately SEK 7.8 billion in 2021. The subsidiary in the US is Thomas Concrete. www.thomasconcretegroup.com
About climate-improved concrete
Climate-improved concrete is a concrete with a lower carbon footprint with the same high - sometimes even higher - quality, function and performance compared to a traditional concrete. www.klimatförbättradbetong.guide
