Guest Blog: Dean Boam, Longcliffe Calcium Quarries

Dean, tell us about your role at Longcliffe

August 2024 marks my tenth year at Longcliffe Quarries. I left college in 2014 with an opportunity to study business at university.  However, I wanted to forge a career within a business. I found an advert in the local paper (“The Peak Advertiser” to be precise) and I haven’t looked back since.

I started as an Administrator in the sales office where I grasped the concept of what it takes from a customer picking up the phone to the order being delivered. This then enabled me to develop a further understanding into aggregate transportation.

I progressed within Longcliffe to tipper planner where I looked after our 10 strong tipper fleet along with various subcontractors and external haulage companies. This then allowed me to progress into planning for our 31 bulk tankers, which came with a whole new set of challenges as we deliver both during the day and nighttime.

My goal within Longcliffe was always to get back into the sales department as a Sales Manager, and at the start of the year I realized my ambition I now look after Longcliffe’s industrial powder customers in the midlands and south. This has been a fantastic career milestone, and I am proud that I have been able to do it at Longcliffe.

Could you tell us more about Longcliffe?

Longcliffe is one of the UK’s largest independent suppliers of calcium carbonate. We were founded in 1927 by our current owner’s Great Grandfather John Shields and have been family owned ever since.  Longcliffe has played an integral role within the Derbyshire community providing many jobs and making a significant contribution to the local economy.

Longcliffe has always been customer orientated. We have always been able to supply our customers with the material they need, when they need it.

Since its inception Longcliffe has developed and grown as well as being conscious about the environment. In 1967 the quarry purchased its first front-end loading shovel for £6,850 and installed an ambuco plant for the production of high purity limestone for the glass industry. By 1978, we installed a tunnel under the road to access further deposits and we continued to invest in new pieces of plant starting with the pyro plant, constructed in 1979, followed by an alpine plant, constructed in 1981, and a new Baioni crusher in 1991. In 2010 Longcliffe secured purchase of Ryder Point Quarry enabling us to produce a range of dolomitic aggregates for the decorative, concrete, and construction markets.

Please could you explain more about Longcliffe’s products and processes?

Longcliffe supplies a broad range of products from block limestone to limestone under 1mm in size.

We supply a number of different sectors, from agriculture, where our limestone is used for strengthening animals‘ skeletal structure, to offering limestone grades that are suitable for the production of commercial glassware and ceramics.

Haddonstone is one of Longcliffe’s long-term customers.  Can you explain what aggregate materials Haddonstone obtains from Longcliffe.

Haddonstone takes four materials from Longcliffe.

Our AGAP25, A4, (which are delivered via air discharged bulk) and our 4-10mm course, and Recipe 5 (which are delivered in 8w tippers.)

As Haddonstone produces an extensive range of cast stone products, it is of the utmost importance that Longcliffe take samples and test each load that departs from the quarry.

Longcliffe has a number of policies in place to ensure it reduces its impact on the natural world as possible. Could you tell us about this please?

Longcliffe is committed to being sustainable.

We operate strict management and planning within our organisation to aim towards our target of net zero emissions to the weighbridge by the year 2030.

Our company’s sustainability has been internationally accredited, which includes ISO 14001 and ISO 50001.

What do you enjoy about working for Longcliffe?

I enjoy the family-owned aspect of working for Longcliffe quarries and the camaraderie that goes with it.  We have a close-knit team who are constantly in contact throughout the business’s different departments.

I also enjoy dealing with the wide range of different customers we supply.  Limestone is a product heavily used for a wide range of different applications. from supplying the animal feeds industry, to supporting businesses with bespoke needs.  We produce around 100 different products.

What does the future look like for Longcliffe?

The future looks very bright for Longcliffe Quarries.

We have continued to grow and have recently installed a new turbo classifier mill that will enable us to penetrate new markets, as well as providing our existing customers with new material.

We continue to work in agricultural markets and produce lime (GCL) to help farmers control their crop pH levels.

Why do you think it’s so important for customers, like Haddonstone, to purchase their raw materials from a company like Longcliffe?

Longcliffe is one of the UK’s leading independent suppliers of calcium carbonate, and we are extremely proud of our history and are customer first approach.

We offer our customers a flexible, fast, and cohesive service with a dynamic team behind all operations.

We are providing our customers with limestone of the highest purity possible.  Our in-house technical department ensures that each load dispatched under 20mm is vigorously inspected for lead and cadmium levels, to ensure our customers receive the purest levels of limestone possible.

Longcliffe is the second largest employer in Derbyshire and a driving force for the area’s economy.

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