Taylor Woodrow
Encyclopedia
Taylor Woodrow was one of the largest British housebuilding and general construction companies. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange
and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
but merged with rival George Wimpey
to create Taylor Wimpey
on 3 July 2007.
was working in the family fruit wholesaling business in Blackpool
when, at the age of 16, he persuaded his father that he could build a house for them to live in. With some capital from his father and a loan from the bank, Frank Taylor built a pair of semi-detached houses, selling one at a good profit. It was only after financing Taylor’s growing housebuilding work for another two years that the bank manager realised that his client was under the legal age for conveying land and uncle Jack Woodrow was brought into the business, creating the Taylor Woodrow name.
In 1930, Frank Taylor moved down from Blackpool to London where Taylor Woodrow rapidly expanded the scale of its private housebuilding - by the mid-1930s it was building at a rate of 1,200-1,500 houses a year. The Company built over 1,000 houses at Grange Park in Hayes
and set up its headquarters in Adrienne Avenue in Southall.
In 1935, the various housebuilding companies were amalgamated and floated on the London Stock Exchange
as Taylor Woodrow Estates.
In 1937, Taylor Woodrow Construction was formed and, after a modest start, the company was soon engaged in defence work. With the outbreak of war in 1939, all private housing development stopped. for six years Taylor Woodrow built military camps, airfields, and factories culminating in work on the Mulberry Harbour
.
. Later moves were into west and south Africa and, in the 1950s, Taylor Woodrow expanded into Australia, Canada (including housing) and, most important of all, the middle east. At home, Taylor Woodrow Construction engaged in a wide variety of work, both for the private and public sectors but what stood out was its role in the power generation industry: after a string of conventional power stations, the Company was the contractor for the world's first commercial nuclear power station, Calder Hall, followed by Hartlepool, Hinkley Point A
, Wylfa and Sizewell A
. In the private sector, notable contracts included terminal buildings at Heathrow, and the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
.
Taylor Woodrow's original private housebuilding business was not neglected. Once building controls were abolished, Taylor Woodrow (in the shape of Taywood Homes) responded rapidly and by 1956 sales were back to their best pre-war levels. However, with Frank Taylor running an international construction business, yet still cotrolling site purchases himself, Taywood Homes never benefited from the post-war housing boom; indeed, housing sales actually declined and at the beginning of the 1980s Taywood Homes was still only building around 500-600 houses a year.
Largely as a result of its middle east presence, Taylor Woodrow’s international construction business went from strength to strength 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". However, by the 1980s, middle east construction was declining but a new source of growth had taken over – commercial property development. Taylor Woodrow had entered the commercial property market in 1964, its flagship project being the St Katharine Docks
complex. By 1989 almost 60% of group profits was coming from rents, development profits and the sale of long-term investment properties.
consortium (completed in 1994) and although there were still substantial building contracts, including the National Assembly for Wales
(2006), construction was on the way out. In 2008 Taylor Woodrow finally exited the construction market by selling Taylor Woodrow Construction to Vinci.
In 2001, Taylor Woodrow intervened in the proposed Bryant
-Beazer merger, buying Bryant for a total of £632m in cash and shares. Adding Bryant's annual sales of 4,000 to Taywood's 2,000 immediately elevated Taylor Woodrow to one of the UK's top five housebuilders. Taywood's housing was relocated to Bryant's Birmingham office and rebranded under the Bryant name. Two years later the housing business was again enlarged, this time by the acquisition of Wilson Connolly, taking UK output to approaching 10,000 units a year.
, to be called Taylor Wimpey
. The merger was effected by means of a scheme of arrangement, leaving the original Taylor Woodrow shareholders with 51% of the new Taylor Wimpey
. Taylor Woodrow provided the new chairman and finance director, while the chief executive and the UK managing director came from Wimpey.
s completed in 1944, the Tanganyika groundnut scheme
completed in 1951, Calder Hall nuclear power station completed in 1956, Hinkley Point A nuclear power station
completed in 1957, Sizewell A nuclear power station
completed in 1966, Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
completed in 1967, Wylfa Nuclear Power Station completed in 1971, Port Rashid in Dubai
completed in 1972, Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station completed in 1983, the Channel Tunnel
completed in 1994, the Riverside Stadium
on Teesside
completed in 1995, Amersham
and Wycombe
Hospitals completed in 2000, the redevelopment of the Royal Albert Hall
completed in 2003, the Princess Royal University Hospital at Farnborough
completed in 2003, the National Assembly for Wales
at Cardiff Bay
completed in 2006 and the King's Cross Western Ticketing Hall
completed in 2006.
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
FTSE 100 Index
The FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....
but merged with rival George Wimpey
George Wimpey
George Wimpey was formed in 1880 and, based in Hammersmith, operated largely as a road surfacing contractor. The business was acquired by Godfrey Mitchell in 1919 and he developed it into the UK’s pre-eminent construction and housebuilding firm. In 2007, Wimpey merged with Taylor Woodrow to create...
to create Taylor Wimpey
Taylor Wimpey
Taylor Wimpey plc is one of the largest British based housebuilding companies. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index...
on 3 July 2007.
Early years
Frank TaylorFrancis Taylor, Baron Taylor of Hadfield
Francis Taylor, Baron Taylor of Hadfield is best known as being the founder of Taylor Woodrow, a leading international contractor and developer.-Career:...
was working in the family fruit wholesaling business in Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
when, at the age of 16, he persuaded his father that he could build a house for them to live in. With some capital from his father and a loan from the bank, Frank Taylor built a pair of semi-detached houses, selling one at a good profit. It was only after financing Taylor’s growing housebuilding work for another two years that the bank manager realised that his client was under the legal age for conveying land and uncle Jack Woodrow was brought into the business, creating the Taylor Woodrow name.
In 1930, Frank Taylor moved down from Blackpool to London where Taylor Woodrow rapidly expanded the scale of its private housebuilding - by the mid-1930s it was building at a rate of 1,200-1,500 houses a year. The Company built over 1,000 houses at Grange Park in Hayes
Hayes, Hillingdon
Hayes is a town in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. It is a suburban development situated west of Charing Cross. Hayes was developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries as an industrial locality to which residential districts were later added in order to house factory workers...
and set up its headquarters in Adrienne Avenue in Southall.
In 1935, the various housebuilding companies were amalgamated and floated on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
as Taylor Woodrow Estates.
In 1937, Taylor Woodrow Construction was formed and, after a modest start, the company was soon engaged in defence work. With the outbreak of war in 1939, all private housing development stopped. for six years Taylor Woodrow built military camps, airfields, and factories culminating in work on the Mulberry Harbour
Mulberry harbour
A Mulberry harbour was a British type of temporary harbour developed in World War II to offload cargo on the beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy....
.
Post War
By the end of the war, Taylor Woodrow had become a substantial construction business. The expertise was now turned to civil construction work at home and the start of what was to become the Group's international business. The first overseas construction was in East Africa where, amongst other things, Taylor Woodrow was involved in the notorious Groundnut SchemeTanganyika groundnut scheme
The Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme was a plan to cultivate tracts of what is now Tanzania with peanuts. It was a project of the British Labour government of Clement Attlee. It was abandoned in 1951 at considerable cost to the taxpayers when it did not become profitable...
. Later moves were into west and south Africa and, in the 1950s, Taylor Woodrow expanded into Australia, Canada (including housing) and, most important of all, the middle east. At home, Taylor Woodrow Construction engaged in a wide variety of work, both for the private and public sectors but what stood out was its role in the power generation industry: after a string of conventional power stations, the Company was the contractor for the world's first commercial nuclear power station, Calder Hall, followed by Hartlepool, Hinkley Point A
Hinkley Point A nuclear power station
Hinkley Point A nuclear power station was a Magnox power station located on a site in Somerset on the Bristol Channel coast, west of the River Parrett estuary.-History:...
, Wylfa and Sizewell A
Sizewell nuclear power stations
Sizewell nuclear power stations are two nuclear power stations located near the small fishing village of Sizewell in Suffolk, England. Sizewell A, with two magnox reactors, is now in the process of being decommissioned, while Sizewell B has a single pressurised water reactor and is the UK's newest...
. In the private sector, notable contracts included terminal buildings at Heathrow, and the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Christ the King is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Liverpool and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool. The Metropolitan Cathedral is one of two cathedrals in the city...
.
Taylor Woodrow's original private housebuilding business was not neglected. Once building controls were abolished, Taylor Woodrow (in the shape of Taywood Homes) responded rapidly and by 1956 sales were back to their best pre-war levels. However, with Frank Taylor running an international construction business, yet still cotrolling site purchases himself, Taywood Homes never benefited from the post-war housing boom; indeed, housing sales actually declined and at the beginning of the 1980s Taywood Homes was still only building around 500-600 houses a year.
Largely as a result of its middle east presence, Taylor Woodrow’s international construction business went from strength to strength 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
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, described as "the largest single overseas contract ever undertaken by the British construction industry". However, by the 1980s, middle east construction was declining but a new source of growth had taken over – commercial property development. Taylor Woodrow had entered the commercial property market in 1964, its flagship project being the St Katharine Docks
St Katharine Docks
St Katharine Docks, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, were one of the commercial docks serving London, on the north side of the river Thames just east of the Tower of London and Tower Bridge...
complex. By 1989 almost 60% of group profits was coming from rents, development profits and the sale of long-term investment properties.
Private Housing Revival
The collapse of the property boom led to exceptional write-offs of over £100m in 1991 and 1992. At the same time, few in the construction industry were making substantial profits. Gradually, Taylor Woodrow’s construction business was reduced in size and the emphasis of the group was redirected to private housing – both in the UK and North America. In 1994, Taywood Homes was strengthened by the acquisition of Heron Homes taking its sales to an annual rate of 1,000 while overseas the success of its U.S. and Canadian subsidiaries gave the group an extra 2,000 a year sales. By the end of the 1990s Taylor Woodrow was describing itself as an international housing and property group. The last major civil engineering contract had been as part of the Channel TunnelChannel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
consortium (completed in 1994) and although there were still substantial building contracts, including the National Assembly for Wales
National Assembly for Wales
The National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...
(2006), construction was on the way out. In 2008 Taylor Woodrow finally exited the construction market by selling Taylor Woodrow Construction to Vinci.
Bryant Homes
Bryant Homes was one of the larger UK housebuilders when it was acquired by Taylor Woodrow in 2001; Bryant then became the principal housebuilding operation of the enlarged group. Taylor Woodrow merged with Wimpey in 2007 and during 2010 the Bryant brand was phased out...
-Beazer merger, buying Bryant for a total of £632m in cash and shares. Adding Bryant's annual sales of 4,000 to Taywood's 2,000 immediately elevated Taylor Woodrow to one of the UK's top five housebuilders. Taywood's housing was relocated to Bryant's Birmingham office and rebranded under the Bryant name. Two years later the housing business was again enlarged, this time by the acquisition of Wilson Connolly, taking UK output to approaching 10,000 units a year.
Merger with George Wimpey Plc
In March 2007, the company announced plans for a £6 billion nil-premium merger with George WimpeyGeorge Wimpey
George Wimpey was formed in 1880 and, based in Hammersmith, operated largely as a road surfacing contractor. The business was acquired by Godfrey Mitchell in 1919 and he developed it into the UK’s pre-eminent construction and housebuilding firm. In 2007, Wimpey merged with Taylor Woodrow to create...
, to be called Taylor Wimpey
Taylor Wimpey
Taylor Wimpey plc is one of the largest British based housebuilding companies. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index...
. The merger was effected by means of a scheme of arrangement, leaving the original Taylor Woodrow shareholders with 51% of the new Taylor Wimpey
Taylor Wimpey
Taylor Wimpey plc is one of the largest British based housebuilding companies. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index...
. Taylor Woodrow provided the new chairman and finance director, while the chief executive and the UK managing director came from Wimpey.
Major projects under taken by Taylor Woodrow Construction
Major projects completed by the company have included the Mulberry harbourMulberry harbour
A Mulberry harbour was a British type of temporary harbour developed in World War II to offload cargo on the beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy....
s completed in 1944, the Tanganyika groundnut scheme
Tanganyika groundnut scheme
The Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme was a plan to cultivate tracts of what is now Tanzania with peanuts. It was a project of the British Labour government of Clement Attlee. It was abandoned in 1951 at considerable cost to the taxpayers when it did not become profitable...
completed in 1951, Calder Hall nuclear power station completed in 1956, Hinkley Point A nuclear power station
Hinkley Point A nuclear power station
Hinkley Point A nuclear power station was a Magnox power station located on a site in Somerset on the Bristol Channel coast, west of the River Parrett estuary.-History:...
completed in 1957, Sizewell A nuclear power station
Sizewell nuclear power stations
Sizewell nuclear power stations are two nuclear power stations located near the small fishing village of Sizewell in Suffolk, England. Sizewell A, with two magnox reactors, is now in the process of being decommissioned, while Sizewell B has a single pressurised water reactor and is the UK's newest...
completed in 1966, Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Christ the King is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Liverpool and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool. The Metropolitan Cathedral is one of two cathedrals in the city...
completed in 1967, Wylfa Nuclear Power Station completed in 1971, Port Rashid in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
completed in 1972, Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station completed in 1983, the Channel Tunnel
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
completed in 1994, the Riverside Stadium
Riverside Stadium
The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough F.C. since it opened in 1995...
on Teesside
Teesside
Teesside is the name given to the conurbation in the north east of England made up of the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar, Billingham and surrounding settlements near the River Tees. It was also the name of a local government district between 1968 and 1974—the County Borough of...
completed in 1995, Amersham
Amersham
Amersham is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England, 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. It is part of the London commuter belt....
and Wycombe
High Wycombe
High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
Hospitals completed in 2000, the redevelopment of the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
completed in 2003, the Princess Royal University Hospital at Farnborough
Farnborough, London
Farnborough is a settlement in the London Borough of Bromley. It is a suburban development located 13.4 miles southeast of Charing Cross.-History:...
completed in 2003, the National Assembly for Wales
Senedd
The Senedd , also known as the National Assembly building, houses the debating chamber and three committee rooms for the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff. The Senedd building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 1 March 2006 and the total cost was £69.6 million, which included £49.7M in...
at Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay is the area created by the Cardiff Barrage in South Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The regeneration of Cardiff Bay is now widely regarded as one of the most successful regeneration projects in the United Kingdom. The Bay is supplied by two rivers to form a freshwater lake round the...
completed in 2006 and the King's Cross Western Ticketing Hall
King's Cross St. Pancras tube station
King's Cross St. Pancras is a tube station in the London Borough of Camden, on the London Underground network, serving both King's Cross and main line stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1. It is the fourth busiest station on the system and serves more lines than any other...
completed in 2006.