Tarmac Group first listed on the Birmingham Stock Exchange in 1913 and then the London Stock Exchange in 1922. During the 1920s and ‘30s Tarmac had to cope with national strikes, recession and periods of intense competition. Nevertheless, the company gradually expanded its geographic coverage (particularly in the south east), increased its production of paving slabs and moved into road surfacing as well as supply. As with so many companies in the construction industry, the Second World War increased the demand for Tarmac’s services, notably for surfacing the large numbers of airfields being built or modernised. By the time of its half
The Fine Art of Surfacing The Fine Art of Surfacing The Fine Art of Surfacing was The Boomtown Rats' third album and contained the hit-single releases, "I Don't Like Mondays", "Diamond Smiles" and "Someone's Looking at You". The album peaked at No. 7 in the UK Albums Chart in 1979. "I Don't Like Mondays" b/w "It's All the Rage" was released in June 1979, and reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in late July in the UK in the same year. The song refers to Brenda Ann Spencer's killing spree on Monday, 29 January 1979 in San Diego, California. Bob Geldof also went