The construction firm building the Newtown Bypass has been bought out by Solihull based building giant Tarmac.

Abergavenny based Alun Griffiths Contractors Ltd, which operates across Mid Wales and the Midlands and south-west of England, will continue to operate under the ‘Griffiths’ name and existing contracts will not be affected.

A statement from the Tarmac company reads:

“Tarmac, the UK’s leading building materials and construction solutions business, has announced that Griffiths, a successful and well-respected regional construction and surfacing business operating across Wales, the Midlands and South West England, has become part of their contracting business.

“Combining the expertise of both businesses, the acquisition strengthens Tarmac’s overall civil and highways customer offer in key markets and builds upon its existing network of strategic sites, logistics and operations.

“Griffiths’ principal sectors of expertise include highways and bridges, rail, utilities, surfacing, integrated transport, urban regeneration, highway maintenance and water management.”

The new owners said that management teams from both Tarmac and Griffiths were working to ensure ‘business as usual’ for existing customers.

Meanwhile Montgomeryshire AM Russell George said he was pleased after gaining assurances that the Newtown bypass construction project would not be affected by the collapse of construction giant Carillion earlier this week.

“Carillion has significant involvement in Wales on a number of key projects and I had the opportunity of questioning the Welsh Government on the ramifications of the company’s collapse on schemes such as the A40, A55 and the company’s role as a partner for Abellio in the potential rail franchise,” he said.

“The Cabinet Secretary confirmed that they expect for there to be ‘little direct impact’ but that they will continue to closely monitor the indirect exposure of Carillion’s collapse on small and medium sized companies in Wales.

“I was also pleased to have gained assurances from Alun Griffiths Contractors who are managing the construction of the Newtown Bypass that it will not be affected at all by Carillion’s collapse and that the construction of the bypass remains on track for completion in 12 months’ time.”

Griffiths was founded in 1968 and employs 700 people out of six regional offices across Wales, the Midlands and South West England. The business has an annual turnover of circa £100 million, placing it in the UK Top 20 of civil engineering contractors.

The firm is the named sponsor for Newtown AFC’s Latham Park, which has been known as ‘Griffiths Latham Park’ since 2015.