 | |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| Industry | Construction,Civil engineering |
| Founded | 1977 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
Key people |
|
| Revenue |  £4,546.2 million (2024)[2] |
| £162.0 million (2024)[2] | |
| £131.7 million (2024)[2] | |
Number of employees | 8,000 (2024)[2] |
| Website | morgansindall |
Morgan Sindall Group plc is a prominent UK construction and regeneration company, headquartered inLondon employing around 6,700 employees and operating in the public, regulated and private sectors. It operates through three divisions which are Fit Out, Construction Services and Partnerships. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of theFTSE 250 Index.
The company was established under the nameMorgan Lovell by its founders, John Morgan and Jack Lovell, in 1977; it initially had £1,000 in capital and was based at Golden Square inSoho.[3] Overbury, a fit out contractor which had been in business since 1942, was acquired by the company during 1985; rebranded asMorgan Lovell and Overbury, the company quickly expanded throughout the UK around this time.[4]
During 1994, Morgan Lovell and Overbury secured a listing on theLondon Stock Exchange via a £13.5 millionreverse takeover of the regional construction company William Sindall plc.[5][6] William Sindall had been established in the 1860s, and was named after its founder, who was known for his work on behalf of theUniversity of Cambridge. During July 1988, William Sindall had acquired Hinkins & Frewin, a company established in 1847, known for their work for theUniversity of Oxford.[7] The business operated from offices inOxford,Cambridge,Banbury,Rugby andFareham. While its share price had trended positively throughout the 1980s, William Sindall's fiscal health soured in the 1990s, incurring routine losses and making it vulnerable to takeover.[5]
Following the reverse takeover, the combined company was namedMorgan Sindall; the positions of chairman and chief executive were both filled by John Morgan.[5] The losses incurred by William Sindall before the merger worked to the firm's advantage to reduce its tax liabilities for some time thereafter. By the mid 1990s, the majority of Morgan Sindall's work was coming from largeblue chip customers, such asMan Group,Bank of America,Standard Life andThorn EMI.[5][8]
By February 1996, Morgan Sindall made a pre-tax profit of £3.03 million;[9] one year later, it announced a 71 percent rise in pre-tax profits.[10] The firm then embarked on a series of acquisitions.[11][12] During 1998, Morgan Sindall bought Lovell Partnerships from the financially stretched Lovell Group in exchange for £15 million; the business was one of the largest partnership housing operations in the UK and also had its own private housebuilding division.[13][14]
During August 2000, management of the firm, which had a market value of just over £100m, wasdebt-free and had 38 percent of its shares owned by board members, stated their ambitions to double turnover within four years and to expand the company's scope by 50 percent.[15] In May 2001, the company purchasedCarillion's social housing division.[16] One year later, the company stated that it would not undertake further acquisitions for a while; furthermore, the company's order book exceeded £1 billion in value at this time.[17]
In June 2007, Morgan Sindall purchased the construction arm ofAMEC;[18] this acquisition later proved to be problematic, leading to a £15 millionwrite-off andlegal action between the two firms over project liability.[19][20] During September 2009, Morgan Sindall was fined £287,000 by theOffice of Fair Trading for its involvement in cover pricing activities; the company subsequently announced that it had carried out a comprehensive review of its activities.[21][22]
During September 2010, it purchased the repairs division ofConnaught plc, saving 2,500 jobs in the process.[23][24] In 2011, despite a sustained and sharp downturn in public spending amid theGreat Recession, the firm's turnover exceeded £1 billion.[25]
In early 2020, the company announced that it would be directing its resources into its housing division and did not plan to make any acquisitions in the foreseeable future.[26] However, by 2024, Morgan Sindall was once again publicly interested in acquisition opportunities,[27] while substantial sums continued to be invested into housing as well.[28]
Morgan Sindall Group is a construction company and regeneration group operating in the public and commercial sectors. It operates through three divisions which are fit out, construction services and partnerships. Cash generated from the fit out and construction businesses are invested in partnerships, for example building homes with local authorities and mixed use regeneration projects.[29]
Major projects includedMurray Royal Hospital inPerth, completed in 2012,[30] the expansion ofWhitechapel station forCrossrail, completed in 2021,[31] and construction of six new stations on theNorthumberland Line completed in 2024.[32]
Morgan Sindall Group plc own a number of subsidiaries, including:[33]
| Subsidiary name | Area of business |
|---|---|
| Morgan Sindall Construction | Education, healthcare, commercial, industrial, leisure and retail markets |
| Morgan Sindall Infrastructure | Highways, rail, energy, water and nuclear |
| BakerHicks | Architectural and engineering design consultancy |
| Overbury | Office and further education fit out and refurbishment |
| Morgan Lovell | Design and build office fit out |
| Morgan Sindall Property Services | Property repairs for the social housing sector |
| Lovell Homes | House builder |
| Lovell Partnerships | Partnership housing |
| Muse Places | Mixed-use urban regeneration |
