Taylor Woodrow Construction, branded as Taylor Woodrow, is a UK-based civil engineering contractor and one of four operating divisions of Vinci Construction UK.[4] The business was launched in 2011, combining civil engineering operations from the former Taylor 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 rival George Wimpey in July 2007 to create the Taylor 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.
History
Taylor Woodrow
Early years
The Taylor Woodrow business was founded in Blackpool in 1921 as a housebuilder by Frank 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 in Southall.[7] In 1935, the housebuilding business was floated on the London 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. With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, private housing development stopped, and for six years Taylor Woodrow built military camps, airfields and factories, and worked on the Mulberry harbour units.[6]
1945–2008
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 notorious Groundnut 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 commercial nuclear power station, Calder Hall. Hartlepool, Hinkley Point A, Wylfa and Sizewell A followed. In the private sector, notable contracts included terminal buildings at LondonHeathrowairport, and the Liverpool 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 at Port 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 the Channel 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 with George Wimpey forming Taylor Wimpey in March 2007,[11] and just over a year later, in September 2008, Vinci plc, the British subsidiary of France's Vinci SA, acquired Taylor Woodrow Construction from Taylor Wimpey for £74m.[12][13]
Notable projects undertaken
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.[29]
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.[29]
Taylor Woodrow Construction today
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).[30] In 2011, the civil engineering division of Vinci Construction UK was rebranded as Taylor Woodrow in recognition of "its world-class heritage in civil engineering projects".[29]
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 from Transport for London for pre-construction work on stations in London.[31]
Notable projects undertaken
Major projects completed by Taylor Woodrow Construction following the reorganisation and rebranding included:
^Guy Hartup, Code Name Mulberry: The Planning Building and Operation of the Normandy Harbours, Page 94
^Lambirth, Andrew (6 May 1996). "Obituary: Rodney Thomas". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
