Taylor Wimpey
Encyclopedia
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 250 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.
, 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.
In the 1930s, Taylor Woodrow diversified into building temporary hospitals etc., and thereby moved into general construction.
Between 1945 and 2001 Taylor Woodrow's main operations were in general construction with Taylor Woodrow Homes
only being a small part of the Group.
In January 2001 this changed as Taylor Woodrow acquired Bryant Group, a business founded in Birmingham
in 1885 by Chris Bryant, for £556 million and in October 2003 Taylor Woodrow acquired Wilson Connolly in a cash and shares deal worth £499 million.
and Walter Tomes (the latter sold out in 1893) as a stone-working partnership in 1880 in Hammersmith
.
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. George Wimpey completed its first residential development, the Greenford Park Estate, in 1928.
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.
George Wimpey also had operations in Australia
, Austria
, Borneo
, Canada
, Hong Kong
, Iraq
, Jamaica
, Kuwait
, New Guinea
, Syria
and the United Arab Emirates
.
In 1996 George Wimpey acquired McLean Homes
, a business founded in the 1934 by John McLean, from Tarmac
. In 2001 McAlpine Homes was acquired from Alfred McAlpine
in a £463 million deal and in 2002 George Wimpey went on to acquire Laing Homes, a premium housebuilder, from John Laing for £295 million.
and George Wimpey
took place on 3 July 2007.
Taylor Wimpey had a substantial house building operations in certain parts of the USA, and was the tenth largest in the country. These operations were marketed under the brand 'Taylor Morrison' in California
, Arizona
, Texas
, and Florida
. Taylor Morrison builds a range of traditional single family homes and more compact attached town homes.
Taylor Wimpey also had a housebuilding business in Canada
. It mainly trades in the Ontario
area and under the brand 'Monarch'. In 1994 Monarch entered into the high-rise sector.
. There are over 20 regional offices in the UK. In 2008, the combined US operational headquarters were re-located to Phoenix, Arizona
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
based housebuilding companies. It is listed 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...
and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index
FTSE 250 Index
The FTSE 250 Index is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions to and demotions from the index take place quarterly in March, June, September and December...
. Its corporate headquarters are in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and its UK operational headquarters are in High 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...
.
The company was created from the merger of rivals Taylor Woodrow
Taylor Woodrow
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.-Early years:Frank Taylor was...
and 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...
on 3 July 2007.
Taylor Woodrow
Taylor Woodrow was founded in 1921 by 16-year old 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:...
, who borrowed some money to build two houses 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...
. 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.
In the 1930s, Taylor Woodrow diversified into building temporary hospitals etc., and thereby moved into general construction.
Between 1945 and 2001 Taylor Woodrow's main operations were in general construction with Taylor Woodrow Homes
Taylor Woodrow
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.-Early years:Frank Taylor was...
only being a small part of the Group.
In January 2001 this changed as Taylor Woodrow acquired Bryant Group, a business founded in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
in 1885 by Chris Bryant, for £556 million and in October 2003 Taylor Woodrow acquired Wilson Connolly in a cash and shares deal worth £499 million.
Sponsorship
Taylor Wimpey was the Main sponsor of St. Johnstone F.C. from 2009 to 2011 (football seasons).George Wimpey
George Wimpey was founded by George WimpeyGeorge Wimpey (businessman)
George Wimpey was an English stonemason, builder and founder of the house building and construction company George Wimpey, which became one of the largest construction companies in the United Kingdom.-Career:...
and Walter Tomes (the latter sold out in 1893) as a stone-working partnership in 1880 in Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
.
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. George Wimpey completed its first residential development, the Greenford Park Estate, in 1928.
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.
George Wimpey also had operations in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
.
In 1996 George Wimpey acquired McLean Homes
McLean Homes
-History:The Company was established by John McLean in 1934 with the objective of building houses for local authorities. In 1953, trading as John McLean & Sons, the Company opened one of the first fully furnished show homes in the UK...
, a business founded in the 1934 by John McLean, from Tarmac
Tarmac (company)
Tarmac is a company that is based in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom and operates internationally. The company produces aggregates and road-surfacing materials, including tarmacadam, from which the company's name is derived...
. In 2001 McAlpine Homes was acquired from Alfred McAlpine
Alfred McAlpine
Alfred McAlpine plc was a British construction firm headquartered in London. It was a major road builder, and constructed over 10% of Britain's motorways, including the M6 Toll...
in a £463 million deal and in 2002 George Wimpey went on to acquire Laing Homes, a premium housebuilder, from John Laing for £295 million.
Post merger
The completion of the merger between Taylor WoodrowTaylor Woodrow
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.-Early years:Frank Taylor was...
and 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...
took place on 3 July 2007.
United Kingdom housebuilding
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.North America housebuilding
These operations were sold in July 2011. Taylor Wimpey’s North America operations were based around three core brands: Taylor Morrison, Taylor Woodrow Communities and Monarch.Taylor Wimpey had a substantial house building operations in certain parts of the USA, and was the tenth largest in the country. These operations were marketed under the brand 'Taylor Morrison' in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Taylor Morrison builds a range of traditional single family homes and more compact attached town homes.
Taylor Wimpey also had a housebuilding business in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It mainly trades in the Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
area and under the brand 'Monarch'. In 1994 Monarch entered into the high-rise sector.
Other operations
The Taylor Wimpey group also owns Prestoplan, a specialist timber frame manufacturer, and distribution firm Taylor Wimpey Logisitics (TWL).Offices
Taylor Wimpey's Corporate Headquarters are located at 80 New Bond Street in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. There are over 20 regional offices in the UK. In 2008, the combined US operational headquarters were re-located to Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
.