 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary ofVinci SA |
|---|---|
| Industry | Civil engineering |
| Founded | 1937 |
| Headquarters | London, England |
Key people | Jerome Stubler,Chairman[1] Julian Gatward,MD[2] |
| Revenue | £21.3 million (2019)[3] |
| £0.8 million (2019)[3] | |
| £0.6 million (2019)[3] | |
Number of employees | 176 (2019)[3] |
| Parent | Vinci SA |
| Website | www.taylorwoodrow.com |
Taylor Woodrow Construction, branded asTaylor Woodrow, is a UK-basedcivil engineering contractor and one of four operating divisions ofVinci Construction UK.[4] The business was launched in 2011, combining civil engineering operations from the formerTaylor Woodrow group and from Vinci UK - formerly Norwest Holst.
Taylor Woodrow was one of the largest housebuilding and general construction companies in Britain. It merged with rivalGeorge Wimpey in July 2007 to create theTaylor Wimpey housebuilding group. In September 2008, Taylor Woodrow Construction was acquired by Vinci plc from Taylor Wimpey; initially branded as part of Vinci Construction, the civil engineering division reverted to the name Taylor Woodrow Construction in 2011 to reflect its civil engineering heritage.
The Taylor Woodrow business was founded inBlackpool in 1921 as a housebuilder byFrank Taylor and his uncle, Jack Woodrow, creating the Taylor Woodrow name.[5][6] In 1930, Taylor moved to London and his business eventually established headquarters inSouthall.[7] In 1935, the housebuilding business was floated on theLondon Stock Exchange as Taylor Woodrow Estates.[8] In 1937,Taylor Woodrow Construction was formed and, after a modest start, the company was soon engaged in defence work. Shortly following the outbreak of theSecond World War in 1939, private housing development stopped, and for six years Taylor Woodrow built military camps, airfields and factories, and worked on theMulberry harbour units.[6]
By 1945, Taylor Woodrow had become a substantial construction business, and it expanded into domestic civil construction work and internationally, working in East Africa (it was involved in the notoriousGroundnut Scheme), then west and South Africa and, in the 1950s,Australia,Canada and the middle east.[6] In the UK, Taylor Woodrow Construction became a prominent contractor in the power generation industry, building first conventional power stations and then the world's first commercialnuclear power station,Calder Hall.Hartlepool,Hinkley Point A,Wylfa andSizewell A followed. In the private sector, notable contracts included terminal buildings atLondonHeathrowairport, and theLiverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.[6]
Work in the middle east helped grow Taylor Woodrow’s international construction business and by the mid 1970s overseas profits accounted for two thirds of group profits. The centrepiece was the joint venture with Costain to build the dry docks atPort Rashid,Dubai, described as "the largest single overseas contract ever undertaken by the British construction industry".[9]
However, by the 1980s, middle east construction was declining and the parent Taylor Woodrow group was increasingly focused on housebuilding and the commercial property market.[10] Taylor Woodrow Construction was part of theChannel Tunnel consortium (completed in 1994) but its operations were less important to the group. A series of mergers and acquisitions culminated in the £6 billion merger withGeorge Wimpey formingTaylor Wimpey in March 2007,[11] and just over a year later, in September 2008, Vinci plc, the British subsidiary of France'sVinci SA, acquired Taylor Woodrow Construction from Taylor Wimpey for £74m.[12][13]
Major projects completed by Taylor Woodrow included:
Today's Vinci Construction UK started as a concrete specialist, Holst & Co, founded in 1918 in London by Danish civil engineers Knud Holst and Christian Lunoe. Five years later, in Liverpool, another business, Norwest Construction was founded in Liverpool. The two businesses merged in 1969 to form Norwest Holst, which - during the 1980s - was the largest privately owned construction group in the UK.[31]
In 1991, a French company, SGE, acquired a majority shareholding in Norwest Holst, which, in 2002, was renamed Vinci plc and acquired London-based contractor Crispin & Borst. Weaver plc was acquired in 2007.[31]
In early 2009, Vinci planned to reorganise all UK operations under one name,[5] but the Taylor Woodrow brand was eventually retained (though the company's 'teamwork' logo was retained by Taylor Wimpey).[32] In 2011, the civil engineering division of Vinci Construction UK was rebranded asTaylor Woodrow in recognition of "its world-class heritage in civil engineering projects".[31]
In 2021, Taylor Woodrow Construction generated a profit of £8.6m on revenues of £319m. The business had increased its focus on new energy markets and won four commissions fromTransport for London for pre-construction work on stations in London.[33]
Major projects completed by Taylor Woodrow Construction following the reorganisation and rebranding included:
Taylor Woodrow Construction is also involved inHS2 lots N1 and N2, working as part of joint venture, due to complete in 2031.[45]
