Taylor Wimpey

Taylor Wimpey plc
Public limited company
Traded as LSE: TW.
Industry Housebuilding
Founded 2007 (2007)
Headquarters High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Key people
 Kevin Beeston (chairman)
Pete Redfern (CEO)
Revenue £3,139.8 million (2015)[1]
£632.1 million (2015)[1]
£489.8 million (2015)[1]
Website www.taylorwimpey.co.uk

Taylor Wimpey plc (formerly Taylor Woodrow 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 100 Index. Its corporate headquarters are in London and its UK operational headquarters are in High Wycombe.

The company was created from the merger of rivals Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey on 3 July 2007.[2]

History

Taylor Woodrow

Taylor Woodrow was founded in 1921 by 16-year-old Frank Taylor, who borrowed some money to build two houses in Blackpool. As he was too young to form his own company, his uncle Jack Woodrow lent his name to the business, and so it became Taylor, Woodrow Limited.[3]

In the 1930s, Taylor Woodrow diversified into building temporary hospitals etc., and thereby moved into general construction.[3] Taylor Woodrow's main operations were in general construction with Taylor Woodrow Homes only being a small part of the Group: indeed, housing sales actually declined and at the beginning of the 1980s Taylor Woodrow Homes was still only building around 500-600 houses a year.[4]

In January 2001 this changed as Taylor Woodrow acquired Bryant Group, a business founded in Birmingham in 1885 by Chris Bryant, for £556 million[5] and in October 2003 Taylor Woodrow acquired Wilson Connolly in a cash and shares deal worth £499 million.[6]

George Wimpey

A Taylor Wimpey development at Diglis Basin in Worcester

George Wimpey was founded by George Wimpey and Walter Tomes (the latter sold out in 1893) as a stone-working partnership in 1880 in Hammersmith.[3]

George Wimpey died in 1913 at the age of 58. His family put the business up for sale in 1919. Godfrey Way Mitchell bought the firm and decided to retain the Wimpey name.[3] George Wimpey completed its first residential development, the Greenford Park Estate, in 1928.[3]

In the 1970s George Wimpey became the UK's largest private house builder selling 106,440 homes in the decade, and in the 1980s George Wimpey began to reinforce Wimpey Homes as a brand, focusing on quality compact housing. Advertising, featuring the famous Wimpey cat, ensured Wimpey Homes became a household name in house building.[7]

In 1996 George Wimpey acquired McLean Homes, a business founded in the 1934 by John McLean, from Tarmac.[8] In 2001 McAlpine Homes was acquired from Alfred McAlpine in a £463 million deal[9] and in 2002 George Wimpey went on to acquire Laing Homes, a premium housebuilder, from John Laing for £295 million.[10]

Post-merger

In September 2008 Vinci bought the UK operations of Taylor Woodrow Construction[11] and in April 2009 the remaining activities of Taylor Woodrow Construction in Ghana were sold to management.[12] Then in March 2011 a property investment group backed by private equity firms acquired Taylor Wimpey's American and Canadian housebuilding businesses.[13]

Operations

Taylor Wimpey's United Kingdom operations are increasingly focused on the Taylor Wimpey brand with historic brands (Bryant Homes, George Wimpey, Laing Homes and G2) being phased out. Taylor Wimpey's corporate head office is located at Gate House in High Wycombe. There are 24 regional offices in the UK.[14]

Sponsorships

Taylor Wimpey was the main sponsor of St Johnstone F.C. for the 2009 to 2011 football seasons.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Results for the year ended 31 December 2015" (PDF). Taylor Wimpey. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "BBC NEWS – Business – Wimpey and Woodrow agree to merge". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Taylor Wimpey: Our History
  4. ↑ Wellings, Fred: Dictionary of British Housebuilders (2006) Troubador. ISBN 978-0-9552965-0-5
  5. ↑ "BBC News – BUSINESS – Taylor Woodrow buys up Bryant". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  6. ↑ "The Independent – 404". The Independent. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "History". George Wimpey. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  8. ↑ British home builders to swap some assets
  9. ↑ "BBC News – BUSINESS – Wimpey buys McAlpine building unit". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Wimpey takes over again as UK's biggest housebuilder with £300m Laing deal". The Independent. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  11. ↑ "Acquisition: Vinci buys Taylor Woodrow". nce.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  12. ↑ Investor Group acquires Taylor Woodrow of Ghana Ltd from Taylor Wimpey PLC through a leveraged buyout Reuters, 21 April 2009
  13. ↑ Taylor Wimpey sells American business for £595m The Telegraph, 31 March 2011
  14. ↑ "Office Addresses". Taylor Wimpey plc. 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  15. ↑ "Football shirt Forum :: Topics in FSC Forum (1/1)". footballshirtculture.com. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
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