Tom Roche who died on July 8th, in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, aged 83, was an entrepreneur with vision. He did not belong to the get-rich-quick brigade; instead he was quite prepared to wait and build brick by brick, as he did with Roadstone, the company he founded with his brother Donal.
He was educated at CBS Westland Row and Blackrock College. But he was not destined to go further in education, as his father, a civil servant, died in 1932. The family was left with little more than personal savings and they moved from Sandymount to Inchicore. With the savings, his mother, Kathleen, bought a sweet shop for £250, and subsequently he purchased a small coal and sand business for £800. He was just under 16 and found himself running the business with three employees and a 1.5 ton truck.
In 1944 he established a gravel business, called Castle Sand Company; he was managing director and his brother Donal, was his assistant. It was at this stage that the Kidney family, who were involved in the accountancy profession and hotels, became investors. A significant move was made in 1949 when the company went public as Roadstone. The issue was underwritten by ICC, but was shunned by investors and ICC was left with 70 per cent. At the time the investing public was not interested in what they perceived as a mundane building materials group. However, true to its role of helping indigenous Irish companies, ICC kept the shares, and offloaded them years later at a handsome profit. A shy and private person, he was more at home at the coalface than in the boardroom (the announcement of his death after the private funeral had taken place was at his request). As the company grew, new management structures were introduced under the guidance of Bill Murray. But in his book, Management Controls in Action Bill Murray said Tom Roche did not value management as an end in itself and, questioning training, said "I wonder does it help men to produce and sell stone?". That management, nonetheless, grew its own notable businessmen such as Jim Culliton, Henry Lund, Don Godson, Jack Hayes and financial innovator, Harry Sheridan.
But he will be best remembered for his audacious move to take over the gilt-edged Cement group in 1970. Audacious because Roadstone hadn't sufficient funds to mount such a bid for the cashrich cement company: Roadstone offered shares instead. As a large user of cement, Roadstone had become weary of the continuing strikes at Cement. In 1970 a strike lasted three months and the unions blocked the import of cement. That triggered the move to the takeover. But the UK building materials company, Readymix, jumped into the fray and made a bid for Roadstone. However, this bid was conditional on Roadstone withdrawing its offer for Cement. This created a dilemma, as Cement was vigorously opposed to the deal.
But he then played the green card. The solution lay with Irish Life Assurance; State controlled, it had a 10 per cent stake in both Roadstone and Cement. The government leaned on Irish Life and CRH was created.
The compromise was four directors from Roadstone, four directors from Cement, with an independent chairman, Sean Lemass, former Taoiseach. After Sean Lemass died, Tom Roche became non-executive chairman. He stepped down in 1974. CRH has flourished from its inception, with an average 20 per cent earnings growth per annum and is now the fifth-largest company on the Irish Stock Exchange.
Not all of his enterprises worked out. In 1971, Tom Roche, his son-in-law, Michael Wymes, and Richard Wood, set up a company (Bula Mines) to buy a lead/zinc mine near Navan. He felt the farmer who owned the land, the late Patrick Wright, was getting a raw deal from Tara Mines, but there were allegations of claim jumping, and the company went into receivership. A long complicated legal dispute ensued against Tara Mines, the State, and other parties. Tom Roche and his son-in-law eventually withdrew from the proceedings. This experience with Bula is said to have caused him much anguish.
His futuristic approach has been demonstrated on a number of occasions. In order to free up the traffic, from outside Dublin to the ports area, he suggested building a tunnel under the Liffey but this did not get the necessary support.
He was more successful with the formation of the National Toll Roads (38 per cent owned by the Roche family), the company that owns the East-Link and the WestLink toll bridges. When first mooted there were plenty of sceptics. But the latest results, showing profits of £10 million, treble the level in 1996, show how successful the concept has been. And as part of his civic ethos, ownership is transferred to the State after 30 years. So when the East-Link is taken over by Dublin Corporation in 2014 and the West-Link is acquired by the National Roads Authority in 2020, he will have succeeded in leaving revenue-producing assets to the State.
He is survived by his children Maura (who is married to Dan Tierney), Eleanor (married to Michael Wymes), Tom (married to Ann Doyle), and Claire. He married Florence McEvoy who pre-deceased him in 1996.
Tom Roche: born 1916; died July, 1999
