Rattee & Kett, the Longstanton, Cambridge, stone and conservation arm of builders Mowlem, have bought the assets of a stonemasonry company and a replica stone roofing manufacturer. And they say they are seeking further expansion, especially into the sandstone areas of the North.

The masonry company they have bought is Woods in Norwich, which had been bought in 1999 by Makers, part of the ground engineering Keller Group, when they wanted to expand into conservation. In a statement to the Stock Exchange in London Keller said they were re-focusing Makers on to their core competences.

Rattee & Kett director Gordon Stygalls told NSS that there were synergies between Rattee & Kett and Woods. The purchase would strengthen Rattee & Kett\'s position in East Anglia while Rattee & Kett could move Woods on in conservation by enabling them to offer a broader range of services.

Woods have primary and secondary sawing capabilities and a profiler, with machinery less than 10 years old. They employ 14 people altogether, including two members of the Woods family - Paul, who is in charge of sawing and profiling, and his sister Christine Smith, who runs the office. They will remain with the business.

The workshop manager, Ivor Hern, and business manager, Keith Oram, also stay with Woods under its new ownership. From Rattee & Kett, Andy Brown will become masonry manager for both businesses and Steve Ankin, Rattee & Kett\'s production manager, will be looking at efficiencies at Woods and setting up an apprenticeship scheme there to complement the one at Longstanton, where there are nine apprentices in various trades among a total workforce of just over 100, 28 of them on the masonry side.

Rattee & Kett are planning to put a gantry crane into Woods to improve handling but are not planning any major investment. Gordon Stygalls says Woods are running at 60% capacity and they need to get up to full capacity.

The other business Rattee & Kett have taken over is making reconstituted stone and slate roofing tiles to be used in place of natural products like Collyweston, Scottish and Welsh slate, and Westmorland.

The company was started by Tony Poyser three years ago. It was called the Recycling Slate Company but Rattee & Kett have renamed it Mowlem Repstone. Tony developed products that were intended to look like the real thing using stone dust and resin. He makes them in randon lengths and widths and in coursed sizes from 28in to 8in. "You see them on a roof and, to be honest, even experts are fooled," says Gordon Stygalls.

How much Rattee & Kett have paid for the businesses is not being disclosed, although Gordon describes the Woods purchase as being a "nominal consideration" and Recycling Slate Company as "similar".

He says Tony Poyser had reached the point where his success meant he needed some backing to make further investments, which Mowlem will enable. Tony has a five year contract to remain with the business and Gordon says a young graduate will be put into Repstone to look at ways of developing the product.

And Gordon Stygalls says there could be more purchases on the way. "It could be the beginning of takeovers if the right opportunities are on the table," he says.