by Anne Hayes - Hills Group

1900- 2000by Anne Hayes

THE Hills work hard and play hard. For thelast 100 years those two characteristicscombined with energy, enterprise, affability andconfidence have been the hallmarks of the Hillfamily in business.It’s a special blend which has enabled the familyto weather the ups and downs of business lifeand emerge united and successful into thesecond millennium.Family feeling is strong among the Hills but byno means exclusive. Non-family members havealways been valued within the business. It’s thatastuteness and generosity of spirit which haskept the company afloat when many otherbusinesses have foundered on a desire to “keepit in the family”.Based for most of the last century in Swindon,the company has grown from a one-manbusiness into a multi-million pound concernEdward Hill (centre) and his foursons, from left to right, Grahame,Rowland, Mervyn and HaroldEdward Hill in 19184A Hill family portrait takenin the late 19th century.Edward is second on the left,back rowPhoto courtesy of the Rev F Fuller

ased in Marlborough. From making bricks, ithas progressed through a multiplicity of buildingoperations to focus on aggregates, waste disposaland recycling, and house building.The Hills family business began with EdwardHill, a strong enterprising individual. Hisleadership and shrewdness propelled thecompany on its way to today’s success and afuture in tune with the new millennium.The annual Clay Pigeon Club dinner,at the Kings Arms, Swindon, 1951.Left to right, Mervyn, Rowland andGrahame Hill are the Moonrakers – amuch enjoyed feature of Hills eventsand family gatheringsReport in the Swindon Evening Advertiserof Friday, August 24, 1956Through itsindependenceand integrityand the loyaltyof its workers,the family hasprovided thefoundations ofmany buildingsand landmarks inthe region today –from motorwaysto the CotswoldWater Park.Throughout, thefamily hasproduced capable sons who have carried thecompany into the fourth generation. EdwardHill fathered four sons, three of whom wereto play a major part in the business –Grahame, Harold and Mervyn. All lived andbreathed the business, and when they weren’tdoing that they were playing cards, tennis,bowls, music, duck shooting or doing their bitfor the community.Their sons – Victor, Tony, Beverley, Richard,Robert and Edward – played and still play theirroles in the business, along with executives theHills were unafraid to promote and trust. Menlike Harry Boulton, Stan Goss, Don Howard,Alan Pardoe and others.Rowland, Edward’s third son, left the businessduring the war to pursue a farming life atBroome Manor. The family retained its interestin farming and country pursuits for many years.5

THE first member of the family to establishhimself in Swindon was Edward Hill, thecompany founder’s father who came from nearWeston-super-Mare. His family had long beeninvolved in brick and tile-making and with boats,in Somerset.Edward settled in Stratton St Margaret in themiddle of the 19th century, and married a localgirl, Emily Iles. He gave up hauling coal inbarges and worked as a master craftsman atStratton Potteries. Later, he managed three localbrickworks. The family became PrimitiveMethodists and eldest son, William, was wellknown as a preacher.The bold spirit of the family was clearlydemonstrated by Edward’s second son, alsoEdward. In 1891 at the age of 19, he and afriend spent two years in the United States,working for a time in a brickworks – anepisode which was to influence much of hislater thinking about brick production.There is a family legend that Edward workedas an engine driver for the Great WesternRailway. What is certain is that soon after hisreturn from America he took on themanagement of the Transfer Brickworks inCounty Road, Swindon.6

Purton Brickworks, run for many years byHarold Hill and later by son VictorBy 1900, at the age of 28, he was working for himself at theMorris Street Brickworks in Rodbourne. Six years laterEdward acquired three brickworks – at Kingshill, atBadbury and at Purton. By then trading as E Hill, he neverlooked back.The Purton works was to become the main brickworks ofthe growing company. In the years before the First WorldWar Edward made an agreement with GWR for the use ofrail sidings close to the claypit to speed the despatch of hisproducts. Other improvements were made and Purtonvillagers soon had a new landmark – a 100ft brick chimney.Stacking the continuous kiln atPurton, left to right, R. Bastin,G. Woolford, A. Kinnet andK. ZeleckThe 1914-18 war proved a significant period for thecompany. As well as stimulating increased brick production,it led to diversification and the start of Hills fleet of lorries,both steam and petrol-driven. After the war, Edward beganto dig gravel in South Cerney; prospecting for gravel was tobecome a major part of his life. He also bought or leased astone quarry at Stratton, Cirencester.The clay pit at PurtonThe Earl KitchenerChimneys at Purton7

Kingshill Home Guard c1941.Mervyn Hill is fourth from left, front rowPhoto: D. Bedford/Swindon SocietySwindon ARP men with a display ofhousehold air raid shelters c1942.The shelter was erected by E Hill & SonsPhoto: A. Beaney/Swindon SocietyTHE war years in Swindon are broughtvividly alive through the diaries of GrahameHill, Edward’s son, for many years managingdirector and chairman of Hills.As in 1914-18, the conflict ushered in a period offrenetic activity for the partnership, as it thenwas, consisting of Edward and three of his sons –E Hill & Sons – based at Kingshill.The family was at the heart of wartime activitiesin Swindon and the surrounding area. Owning asthey did a large number of lorries which wererequisitioned by the Army, the family business alsoreceived a liberal petrol allowance for essentialactivities such as hauling gravel and timber fornew aerodromes, excavating foundations forwartime factories and supplying air raid shelters.The brothers set up the Kingshill Home Guardwhich most of the employees joined and whichoccupied much of the time of Grahame andThe Kingshill or Hills Home Guardshow off a new gun at the tenniscourts at Okus8How the Swindon Evening Advertisertold the Spitfire story on its front pageon September 6 1940Photo: D. Bedford/Swindon Society

The Hill family in 1943 with four members in uniform.Back row, fifth from left, Mervyn Hill; back row, far right,Victor Hill; second row left, Grahame Hill in Home Guarduniform and second from right, Harold HillExtract from Grahame Hill’s diary for September 3 1940 –the declaration of war. Grahame kept his diary throughouthis life until his death in 1977Mervyn – Harold was on active service with theArmy in Europe. Their patriotism led to thedonation of a £1,000 cheque from the companyto the Swindon Spitfire Fund in September 1940.During this time, gravel digging andprospecting began in earnest at Newburyand both Harry Boulton and Stan Goss,two memorable names in Hills lore,joined the company. Another employee,Peter Carver, was reported shot downoff Tunisia, but survived toreturn to Kingshill after the war.Most aspects of living underwartime conditions are revealedin the diaries – the air raids,Churchill’s speeches, the shortageof sweets, of silk stockings.Mervyn was kept busy helpingthe company to make do andmend and keep costs down byextending the working life ofvehicles and machinery.The business acquired BartonCourt at Kintbury, nearNewbury, later to become veryimportant for Hills during thewar. There is a diary note forD-Day June 6, 1944, in whichGrahame says he and a friendwere inspecting the roof of thenew property when they sawglider planes leaving from local aerodromes for France.In May 1945, a party to celebrate the end of the warwas held in Hills field at Okus, Swindon.Beverley Hill as a schoolboy helpingwith earthmoving on a USAAFtractor at Hills site at Lower Way,Thatcham, Newbury, 1945The cheque which the Hill family sent to the SwindonSpitfire fund in 19409

Anythinganywhereany timeIN the years after the war, the Hills transportfleet flourished in terms of its diversity, sizeand efficiency. Former drivers remember theperiod with mixed affection and astonishment athow hard they worked.By 1957 the business, which had become alimited company three years earlier, operatedaround 100 goods vehicles. A London transportbase was set up and two companies were formed– Hills Haulage (Swindon) Ltd and HillsHaulage (London) Ltd.investment continued in plant, vehicles and gravelland. Sand pits at Calne and Newbury; gravel pitsat Lacock, Newbury and South Cerney; precastconcrete works at South Cerney; block-making atPurton; and brickworks at Purton and Badburyensured customer needs were met.Administration was carr ied out at Kingshill underGrahame’s direction wh ile plant hire and repair,research and developme nt came under Mervyn.Harold, on returning fr om the war, had takenup the reins at the brickworks.In the 1960s Hills offered a HGV training serviceat Badbury brickworks. John Parker instructsGrowth between 1954 and 1969 was slow butFirst prize – a 1920s photo of a Hills lorry taking part in acarnival procession displaying the firm’s motto at the time:Anything, Anywhere, Any time. Harold Hill is on the rightEarl Kitchener, used by Hills in theearly part of this century and picturedhere in scarlet glory when owned by theshowmen, R Edwards & Sons LtdPhoto taken by Roy Thomasof Swindon Camera Club10

A Drott excavator being lowered into the tunnelbeneath Swindon Station in the 1960s.Driver Cyril Hares has vivid memories of operatingthis machine as trains thundered by overheadBackground picture shows mobile craneat work erecting a steel framed buildingin Regent Circus, Swindon, in the 1960sHills driver George Sangerand the 1938 Bedford lorryhe drove for many yearsPhoto lent by his son,Brian Sanger of ChiseldonCyril Hares clearing a site at Moredon,Swindon, ready for new housing, 1963An early brickdelivery vehiclefrom the 1920s.This four-wheeldrive lorry hada mechanisedcontainer for tippingits entire loadThis period saw the birth of Hills Tyre Services Ltd(Tyresoles), which supplied reconditioned tyres for the fleetand customers. Another associated company, VaculugSouthern Services Ltd, provided retreaded tractor tyres.Richard Hill was the leading force behind these twosuccessful subsidiaries.In 1960 some of Hills vehicles were fitted with two-wayradio by Mervyn, a radio enthusiast from his youth. Theinstallation was ahead of its time but could create havoc asGrahame noted in his diary: “Radio communicationscausing chaos in front office”.When the concept of ready-mixedconcrete burst on the building scenein the 1960s, Hills became involvedand subsidiaries were formed –Mixconcrete Swindon, MixconcreteNewbury, Mixconcrete Devizes andMixconcrete Bristol.A feature of the years immediately after1945 was the employment by Hills ofGerman prisoners of war and later of Italianworkmen, some of whom stayed on inSwindon to form the nucleus of the town’spresent day Italian community.11

A Ruston Bucyrus Excavator with grab loading an “S” type petrol Bedford6 ton tipper at the Broadway Lane North Gravel Plant, South CerneyAGGREGATES have been the base of Hillsactivities throughout its existence. Diggingand prospecting for sand and gravel wereconstant preoccupations of the Hill family.The early memories of their offspring are oftenof sitting in the back seat of Dad’s or Grandpa’scar and being driven off to South Cerney orNewbury or to a spot in the middle of nowherewhile the adult Hills prodded the ground orbored holes.At the start of the new millennium, theCotswold Water Park is the most importantgravel extraction site in the South West. Thelakes formed by gravel digging have becomenationally important for wildlife and for sport.Hills has been active in the area since 1919 andwas probably the first mineral extractor to digthere closely followed by another Swindon firm,Bradleys. Hills still operates in the water parkwhere it has substantial aggregate reserves.Extraction began seriously during the war yearswhen the first lakes were being formed.Frozen gravel lakeat South Cerneyin the winter of1962-6312

Harold’s son, Tony, who joined the business in1960 recalls that the first large lake, Lake 17,was wet-dug by dragline and the aggregatesloaded onto barges. Tony was at South Cerneyduring the severe winter of 1962-63 when theice on the lake was so thick cars could be drivenacross it. Later, dry digging was introduced,water was pumped out of the pit so the operatorcould see what he was digging.Early processing ofsand and gravelAs soon as the lakes were created they were used forfishing or boating. Lake 17 was let to the BristolHydroplane Racing Club and there was fishing and jetskiracing on Lake 21. Hills decided to run the leisureactivities as part of the business and in 1971 the CotswoldMarina Company was formed.Despite the great activity of the 1960s, the decade was anunsettled and worrying period for Hills financially,although the coming of motorways to the Swindon areaproved a boon thanks to the high demand for sand andgravel. Robert, Grahame’s youngest son, joined thecompany after qualifying as a chartered accountant andbecame managing director in 1968.An early draglineexcavator at workCotswold Marina, once a gravel pit,Broadway Lane, South Cerney13

Lorry from Bristol DepotBuilders merchants counter, Kingshill, SwindonBuilders merchants yard,Kingshill, Swindon14Sage & Down, Worle Quarry

Using the dry digging method,a tractor shovel can dig andload in one operationAnon-family member of great significance tothe company, Don Howard, was appointeddirector and general manager in 1969.His appointment ushered in aperiod of expansion and ofincreased profitability. Togetherwith Robert, he also changed themanagement ethos – the main thrust wasthat future family members should be content toreceive dividends rather than jobs.Unprofitable operations were improved or sold.Brickworks were closed, at Devizes in 1968 andat Badbury in 1970 but the land was retained.Accountancy procedures were improved; thecompany divested itself of the long distancehaulage companies; plant hire was reorganisedand the servicing workshop was scaled down.The non-investment in transportmarked the end of thetraditional “muck away”from building sites. Instead, investment was made in morespecialised waste disposal facilities – skips for hire.Perhaps the most important theme of the 1970s wasexpansion. It began with the purchase of T F Coke(Cheltenham) Ltd, then T S Thomas & Sons Ltd ofChepstow and Tintern. Sage & Down Ltd of Worle, nearWeston-super-Mare. Lulsgate Quarry, south of Bristol, wasalso bought to supply roadstone materials.The purchase in 1975 of Broadmoor Brickworks inCinderford, was to prove a catalyst. The brickworksbought liquid propane gas to fire the kilns direct fromShell at a vastly cheaper price than Hills was paying atPurton where its supplier was Calor Gas.Working at the Lulsgatequarry face near BristolGas tanks were installed at Purton and gas bought directfrom the oil companies. In 1976, Robert persuaded twoindependent distributors to buy their own bottles to befilled by Hills. These were Handygas, of Swindon, andSungas which distributed gas in Bristol. Hills went on tobuy both in 1978 and 1979. By 1987, following thesetting up of a South Wales depot and the acquisition ofEverygas Ltd in Devon, the Handygas empire stretchedfrom South Wales through the Thames Valley to Devon.Shareholders and directorsat the 80th anniversarydinner at the GoddardArms Hotel, SwindonTwo years later, multi-national oil companies werecompeting to buy companies such as Handygas. BP madeHills an offer it couldn’t refuse.Hills bought Handygas in 197815

THE major profit contribution in the 1970sand 1980s was earned by Hills BuildingSupplies. After the war the “heavyside” divisionwas developed and carried a wide-ranging stockof drainage pipes, bricks, cement, timber andother materials.The operation was based at Kingshill and hadgradually evolved over a long period as buildersbrought in waste to dump in the worked-outclaypit so that the area could be filled andlevelled and storage sheds erected. All had beendone in a spasmodic fashion as, thanks to thediversity of Hills operations, drivers and otheremployees could always be found work fillingin the yard if there was a slack period.Hobsons Choice Opening:from left to right, Victor Hill,Eric Morecambe, Edward Hill,Glenys Hill, Tony Hill andLyn HillHills of Swindon’s new showroom. Peter Ball, brick sales manager,sorting bricks in the brick library16Frontcover and pagesfrom the free Hills HomeImprovement Centre newspaper

A brick library was built there in 1971, containing 400types of facing bricks. There was further expansion in 1976when a second depot was opened at Brislington.The company, always alert to current trends, was in thevanguard of the booming DIY home improvement era withthe launch in 1977 of the Hills Home Improvement Centre,again at Kingshill. This first venture into the retail trade,was opened by comedian Eric Morecambe.Everything was stocked here from a tap washer to abathroom suite as well as items for the garden – in all atotal of 22,000 light and heavyside items were available tothe public.Grahame Hill died shortly after the opening in May 1977but lived to see the company regain its profitability. Hisdeath brought to an end any involvement in the business bythe sons of the founder. Mervyn had retired in1972 to live in Gozo, Malta, and Harold haddied in 1973. Robert became chairman of thefamily company at the age of 38.Brochure front cover for County ParkThanks to the hard work of this elder generationthe company was bequeathed a substantial landasset base.In the 1980s Hills put the merchanting operation upfor sale after attempts to boost it had failed due tomarket forces.The builders merchants was relocated to County Park inShrivenham Road and bought by Keyline. Patio Centresclosed while Hobson’s Choice moved to County Park,which was retained as a property investment. Hills movedits headquarters from Kingshill to Marlborough in 1990into offices on the old Ailesbury Arms Hotel site.The sell-offs coincided with a market boom which revealedthe potential of the Kingshill site. In 1991, a joint venturewas negotiated with Persimmon Homes and the last housewas sold in 1997.17

The former Hills gravel site at Thatchamhas become an industrial estateThe end of Badbury brickworksThis lovely old house close to Purtonbrickworks was used by Hills for manyyears, both as a residence and later asoffices. It no longer existsIslip Roseman – championship winnerfrom Hills FarmsThis Bellis & Morcom Marine steam engine was bought in 1953and used at Purton Brickworks until 1977 when diesel engineswere installed. It is to be renovated as a millennium projectand will be put on display in PurtonANEW direction which was to lead to thecompany’s greatest prosperity to date wastaken in 1968 when Hills purchased its first skipvehicle – the basic tool of waste disposal. Soon thecompany had acquired a fleet of skips run inconjunction with plant hire.18Holes in the ground, particularly worked-outclay pits, had always been valuable for fillingwith builders’ rubble and, as house buildingincreased, for the disposal of household waste.

Compactor on Volvo F6 skipvehicle, Swindon, Brunel CentreOther, and older, parts of the business came to an end.Hills Farms Ltd – Barton Court at Kintbury, High PennFarm at Calne and West Marsh Farm at Purton – waswound up in 1984 when its managing director EdwardHill, Graham’s eldest son, retired.One-by-one the brickworks closed, squeezed out by thelarge brick-makers operating nationally. Devizes went in1968, Badbury in 1970 and finally, Purton in 1977.The Thatcham gravel site, near Newbury, became anindustrial estate and 110 acres of land were reclaimed atBadbury. Purton proved a valuable landfill site and a sourceof impermeable clay for projects such as lining the restoredKennet and Avon Canal. Today, the Purton site alsohouses an industrial estate, Hills transport depot and arecycling centre.As the financial restrictions of the 1980s pushed thecompany overdraft to unacceptable levels, the workforcewas reduced at the Kingshill workshop. Welford pit, nearNewbury, was sold, as were Broadmoor brickworks, HillsReadymix Ltd, Sage & Down Ltd and the Thomas groupof companies.Hills decided to increase aggregatereserves and boost the buildingsupplies side. Two major gravelsites were bought in 1984, atShorncote and Faringdon. Butthe push on the merchantingside, all based at Kingshill,came to nothing.Beverley Hill, mainly involved with planningapplications and licences, also helped the companyrealise the potential of skipsAlan Pardoe became managingdirector in 1992, with RobertHill as chairman. Under theirdirection, the company hasconcentrated on a narrower butprofitable range of activities. Today,family ownership and management gohand-in-hand, with the shareholdersknowing more about the business thanperhaps they ever had before.19

Transport of newly excavatedaggregates for processingHead office inMarlboroughSINCE 1992, the business hasexperienced a new style of management.Managers are allowed to manage, memos are fewbut a lot of talking goes on. Family members –the shareholders – are kept fully up to date withwhat is happening.In 1997, the company changed its name toThe Hills Group Ltd, shaking off the by theninaccurate identification with Swindon.Wiltshire is still the main hub of activity as are,to a more limited extent, Gloucestershire,Berkshire and Oxfordshire. With the purchasein 1998 of Roger Constant & Co, Hillsexpanded into Worcestershire.Its prosperity is based on three strands –aggregates, waste disposal and property. Withthe change of title the company was restructuredaround these three spheres of operation. Themain trading company is Hills Minerals & WasteLtd, with trading divisions, Hills Aggregatesand Hills Waste. Hills Property Ltd operates theother principal trading company via its housebuilding arm, County Homes, and contractingside, Olivemead Developments.A customer-orientated wastemanagement and recycling service20Separation of waste for recyclingThe Hills waste recycling centreat Compton BassettMetals baled andready for recycling

High standards ofhousekeeping aremaintainedon gravel sitesHills Aggregates, one of the largest regional suppliers ofsand and gravel to the construction industry, runs sevenquarries on six sites: Shorncote; Latton (a joint venturewith Aggregate Industries); Stourport, Worcestershire;Tubney Woods, near Oxford; Bowling Green Farm,Faringdon; and Compton Bassett, near Calne. In addition,large aggregate reserves are held by the company, mainly inthe Cotswold Water Park.Quality propertiesbuilt by CountyHomesThe group’s second major sphere of operation is wastemanagement. It runs a comprehensive waste and recyclingbusiness covering a wide swathe from Chippenham toNewbury and Salisbury. In 1996, the company’s carefulapproach to waste disposal and land restoration wasrewarded by a 20-year contract, worth £55 million, tohandle the disposal and recycling of waste from mostof Wiltshire.Managing directorAlan Pardoe meets theWiltshire Waste Warrior,figurehead of the company’srecycling initiativeA major feature of the contact is Hills commitment torecycling and reclamation. By the end of the fifth year ofthe contract, 2001, the group has to have found ways ofdealing with 25 per cent of waste by means other thanlandfill. To achieve this a major recycling facility wasconstructed at Compton Bassett,opened in 1998 by MEPCaroline Jackson.A typical landfilloperation21

Robert Hill and Alan Pardoejoin Prince Charles for a visitto an organic farm projectsupported from landfill taxStrict environmentalcontrols aremaintained onall sitesCows graze on restored farmlandReturning thePurtonlandfill site toagriculture22Falcons are used tofrighten scavenging birdsaway from a landfill siteHILLS operates landfill sites at BarnGround, near Ashton Keynes; ChapelFarm, off Blunsdon Hill, Purton brickworksand Tubney Woods. Space is precious and Hillsare at the forefront of waste minimisation andrecycling initiatives in its operating area.Restoration and after-care standards aremaintained at a high level.A natural follow-on from waste disposal is Hillsinvolvement with green issues, particularly inthe Cotswold Water Park. The Cotswold WaterPark Society, which manages the park, endorsesthe company’s responsible approach toextraction in aiding the evolution of anattractive new environment.For each site the company has a five year aftercareprogramme. After this, the site becomeseligible for an industry award and to date Hillshas four major awards for restoration work inthe water park.

Traditional methods such asreed beds help to protect waterquality on a waste siteThe group has taken full advantage of legislation whichallows it to allocate funds, which would otherwise go tolandfill tax, to local green causes such as the WiltshireWildlife Trust, the Cotswold Water Park Society, PurtonCommunity Hall and Compton Bassett church. Othersponsorships include the regeneration of part of BraydonForest, Purton; the Swillbrook nature reserve; andupgrading canal locks and the pumping station at Wilton.Celebrating a Sand and GravelAssociation restoration awardThe third and most recent plank of the business meant asignificant diversification when Hills went into theconstruction business. True to founder Edward’s dictumnot to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, orcompete with its customers, the family had never beenbuilders. In 1998, however, it bought out buildersOlivemead Developmentsand today, under the nameCounty Homes, has sitesunder constructionthroughout Wiltshire and isaiming for a £8 millionturnover by 2001.Since focusing on threecore activities, the companyhas expanded greatly and isnow better placed than everwith 15 years still to run ofthe Wiltshire WasteContract, a booming housebuilding side and excellentreserves of aggregate andlandfill space.There are no plans to sellor to go public and arepresentative of the nextgeneration, Michael,Robert’s son, has alreadyentered the business.The future looks rosy.A serene restoration in the Cotswold Water Park23

Ailesbury Court, High Street,Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 1AATel: 01672 516111Fax: 01672 516198