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| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| LSE: GLE | |
| Industry | Construction |
| Founded | 1903 |
| Headquarters | Sheffield,South Yorkshire |
Key people | James Thomson,(Chairman) Graham Prothero,(CEO) Stefan Allanson, (CFO) |
| Revenue |  £345.3 million (2024)[1] |
 £28.6 million (2024)[1] | |
| £19.3 million (2024)[1] | |
| Subsidiaries | Gleeson Homes, Gleeson Strategic Land |
| Website | mjgleesonplc |
M J Gleeson Group plc is ahousebuilding company in theUnited Kingdom. It is listed on theLondon Stock Exchange and comprises a pair of distinct businesses: Gleeson Homes and Gleeson Strategic Land.
The company was established in 1903 by Michael Joseph Gleeson who operated as a contractor and a developer inSheffield. It developed its civil engineering capability during theSecond World War via the construction ofaerodromes to support Britain's war effort. By 1960, the firm was oriented towards civil engineering projects, such aspower stations,sewage works andsea defense. Gleeson's presence in the private housing sector expanded during the 1990s via multiple acquisitions; the firm also entered the rail sector during 2000.
Following a loss in 2005, the firm was heavily restructured, which included the divestment of its civil engineering division and various none-core activities to focus on urban regeneration, residentialproperty management, and land. Gleeson's homebuilding activities were marketed towards first-time buyers and downsizing older buyers; its homes were more affordable due to a high level of standardisation and a deliberate focus on producing lower cost housing. It benefitted considerably from the British government'sHelp to Buy scheme, recording a steep increase in both profits and revenue two years following its introduction.
The business was founded by Michael Joseph Gleeson, the official date given by the company being 1903.[2] Having travelled from Cloonmore, County Galway a small hamlet in the West of Ireland, toSheffield to find work as a bricklayer. There he joined an Irish family business specialising in housing development and building contracting. A few years later, he married his employer's eldest daughter. In due course, he inherited his father-in-law's firm and changed its name toM J Gleeson in 1915.[3]
Michael Gleeson operated as a contractor and a developer in the Sheffield area, and ownedcinemas and aracetrack. The firm began taking contracts in southeast England in 1930 and in 1932 Michael sent his nephew John Patrick 'Jack' Gleeson to manage the embryonic housing developments.[3] Gleeson began with building an estate of some 750 houses inCheam, followed by smaller estates inEwell andSutton, all at the time inSurrey.[4]
During theSecond World War, Gleeson was heavily engaged in the construction ofaerodromes for military use; this work developed the firm's civil engineering capability that it would put to good use in the conflict's aftermath. During 1955, the company relaunched its housing and property development activities. Following Gleeson'sflotation in 1960, increasing attention was paid to its civil engineering contracts. Such contracts includedpower stations,sewage works andsea defenses.[2]
Like his uncle before him, Jack had no sons and brought in his nephew to succeed him;Dermot Gleeson had been working in the political arena and first joined the Board as a non executive director in 1973; he joined the company full time in 1979, became deputy managing director in 1981 and chief executive in 1988.[5]
During theearly 1990s recession, the firm decided to increase its commitment to the private housing sector. Colroy, a smaller rival company was acquired in 1991; three years later, Gleeson also purchased the residential business of thePortman Building Society.[6][7] In early 2000, Gleeson purchased the specialist rail contractor Mabey Construction; this move launched the firm into Britain's recentlyprivatised rail sector.[8][9] Later that same year, the firm recorded a pre-tax profit of £16.1 million (£13.4 million), up 20 per cent, while turnover rose 17 per cent to £349 million; the company's order books were also claimed to be running at record levels.[10]
In 2005, Gleeson recorded a loss of £18 million, which was primarily attributed to the firm's building division, which was soon after divested via amanagement buyout.[11] A strategic review was conducted during 2006; the civil engineering business was sold (toBlack & Veatch) as was other peripheral businesses and the investment properties; in place of traditional speculative housing, the company reoriented towards urban regeneration.[12][13] By the end of the year, the group was concentrating on urban regeneration, residentialproperty management and land trading. However, substantial losses were again incurred during both 2008 and 2009; costs were cut and the geographical focus was narrowed to the north of England.[14][13] In early 2010, Gleeson returned to profitable operations.[15]
During the 2010s and 2020s, Gleeson Homes' primary customer base became first-time buyers as well as those buyers who could not afford the more expensive homes sold by rival firms likeBellway orPersimmon, and older buyers that were seeking to downsize.[13][16] The majority of larger housebuilders in the UK have shown little interest in this sector, and thus Gleeson has not encountered much competitive pressure in this sector. Furthermore, to achieve better volume discounts and more efficient construction, the firm has also applied a high degree ofstandardisation and a micro-managed cost engineering model across its various projects.[13]
Gleeson benefitted considerably from the British government'sHelp to Buy scheme (introduced during 2013) alongside its own shared equity offerings.[17][13] According to Jolyon Harrison, CEO of Gleeson at this time, the firm intentionally sought out to purchase land that requiredremediation, such as former industrial sites, due to its lower acquisition cost. Furthermore, Gleeson Strategic Land division has focused on selling land to other housebuilders from a combination of its own assets (including sites held under option) and land being promoted for planning on behalf of a third party.[17][13] In late 2015, it recorded a 52 percent increase in turnover for the final six months of that year along with a roughly 25 per cent year-on-year rise in the number of homes sold while operating profits almost trebled from £4 million to £11.3 million.[17]
During 2019, Harrison parted ways with the firm amid disagreements over executive pay; he was replaced byJames Thomson, former CEO ofKeepmoat Homes, was appointed chief executive officer on an interim basis in June 2019.[18] In April 2022, Thomson announced his intention to stand down on 31 December 2022, withVistry Group's chief operating officer Graham Prothero (formerly CEO atGalliford Try) nominated as his successor.[19]
During June 2020, amid the economic consequences of theCovid19 Pandemic in the United Kingdom, Gleeson forecast a 45% fall in revenue for the financial year to 30 June 2020.[20] In early 2023, following a sharp drop in pre-tax profit, the housebuilding arm of the firm was reorganised, which included the merger of several regional offices and a five per cent reduction in headcount from around 800 employees to achieve an annual saving of £4 million after a one-off cost of £2 million.[21][22] Later that year, the company experienced a decline in both home sales and margins, which it attributed to the UK's weak housing market.[23] By 2024, Gleeson was recording annual sales of 1,800 homes and had a stated target of eventually selling 3,000 homes annually.[13][24]
The company has two divisions:[25]
In May 2018, Gleeson Homes was called out in theHouse of Commons byMPJustin Madders for allegedly applying "opaque charges that are not always apparent to the home owner at the time of purchase".[26] The company's CEO, Jolyon Harrison, publicly disputed this criticism and sought an apology.[27]
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