'Exactly what we want' - Blackpool construction firm Fox Group acquires DSD Construction and Moore Readymix

Blackpool-based construction materials provider Fox Group has acquired two new companies.

The business backed by Stellex Capital Management has acquired DSD Construction, a civil engineering and surfacing specialist with a track record of projects across highways, infrastructure and regulated sectors.

Headquartered in Carlisle, DSD supports major clients across the public and private sectors.

The transaction is the fourth acquisition completed by Fox Group since investment from Stellex and is Fox Group’s largest to date.

DSD Construction will continue to trade under the DSD name as part of the Fox Group family of businesses, sitting alongside J. Fisher & Sons and NMS Civil Engineering.

Founder and chief executive Shaun Nugent will remain with the business, as will managing director Martin Tweddle, helping to ensure continuity of leadership, culture and client relationships.

“DSD Construction is exactly the kind of business we want inside Fox Group — family-built, technically excellent and trusted by some of the UK's most demanding clients. As our fourth acquisition since the Stellex investment, and the largest to date, DSD marks an important step in the Group's growth," said chief executive Paul Fox.

"It enhances our customer reach, increases our material volumes, deepens our vertical integration across construction materials, distribution and services, and strengthens our circular economy model by feeding more reclaimed asphalt planings back into new asphalt through J. Fisher & Sons and NMS Civil Engineering. Together we can offer customers a broader, more joined-up proposition.”

Shaun Nugent added: "After more than 30 years building DSD with my family and our team, joining Fox Group is the right next step.

"We share the same values, the same commitment to our people and the same focus on looking after clients. Together we can do more, in more places, for the customers who have backed us for decades."

Martin Tweddle, managing director at DSD Construction, said: "This is a strategic move, not just an investment. By integrating our delivery capability with Fox Group's materials and infrastructure platform, we are creating a more complete and efficient model. That puts us in a strong position to grow, deliver larger frameworks and add greater value for our clients across the UK."

Mark Redman, managing partner at Stellex Capital Management, said: "DSD Construction is a landmark acquisition for Fox Group and a demonstration of the strategy we set out at the time of our investment.

"The addition of DSD's civil engineering and surfacing capability to Fox Group's materials platform represents a meaningful step in the group's vertical integration strategy. We are proud to back Paul and his team as they build something genuinely distinctive."

In a second deal, Fox has also acquired Moore Readymix, a long established, family-run supplier of ready-mixed concrete based in Lancashire.

Founded by Roy Moore and operating for more than 20 years from batching plants at Walton Summit, Preston and St Annes, Blackpool, Moore Readymix supplies all grades of ready-mixed concrete, alongside its specialist MooreMinimix service for smaller pours.

Fox is already investing in the future of Moore Readymix with a new concrete plant being created at the Leyland hub.

Paul Fox said: "This acquisition strengthens our position in the concrete market, expands our construction materials platform across Lancashire, and is another important step in our circular economy strategy - giving us an in-house outlet for our recycled and secondary aggregates and supporting the production of lower-carbon concrete for our customers.

"It also creates an opportunity to cross-sell the wider Fox Group offering to Moore Readymix’s customers."

Roy Moore, Founder and Managing Director, Moore Readymix, added: "After more than two decades of building Moore Readymix as an independent family business, joining the Fox Group is the natural next step.

"We share the same family values and the same commitment to looking after customers and colleagues.

"I’m staying on as managing director to run the business and to deliver the next phase of growth for Moore Readymix — backed by the resources and wider customer network of the Fox Group, our customers will have access to a broader range of construction materials and services, and our team has opportunities to grow."

Fox Group was advised by Hill Dickinson on the Moore Readymix deal.