 McLean had been bought to strengthen Tarmac's own poorly performing housebuilding division and the enlarged operation, now run by Pountain, was producing around 2,000 houses a year.Pountain had ambitions to become a national housebuilder, and by the end of the 1970s, McLean was building 4,000 houses a year and a substantial contributor to group profits.However, there were problems elsewhere in the group.