- For the construction company which now owns the Taylor Woodrow brand see Taylor Woodrow Construction. For Taylor Wimpey's UK housebuilding activities, see Bryant Homes.
Taylor Woodrow Holdings Limited was one of the largest British based housebuilding and general construction companies. The company was dissolved as a result of the sale of Taylor Woodrow Construction Limited and the brand name Taylor Woodrow to Vinci plc. As a result, the company's housebuilding operations were moved to Bryant Homes. Its corporate headquarters were in London and its UK construction headquarters were in Watford. Both these offices are now owned by Taylor Woodrow Construction.
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.
History
Early years
The company was founded in 1921 by sixteen year old Frank Taylor, who borrowed some money to build two houses, 347 and 349 Central Drive, in Blackpool. As he was too young to form his own company, his uncle Jack Woodrow lent his name to the business, initially Taylor & Woodrow, which later became Taylor Woodrow Limited.[1]
In the 1930s, Taylor Woodrow diversified into building temporary hospitals etc, and thereby moved into general construction. This is a business philosophy which has remained with Taylor Woodrow today.
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.
Expansion
In January 2001 Taylor Woodrow acquired Bryant Group, a business founded in Birmingham in 1885 by Chris Bryant, for £556 million[2] and in October 2003 Taylor Woodrow acquired Wilson Connolly in a cash and shares deal worth £499 million.[3]
Merger with George Wimpey Plc
In March 2007, the company announced plans for a £6 billion nil-premium merger with George Wimpey, to be called Taylor Wimpey.[4]
Under the deal, Taylor Woodrow Shareholders retained their shares in Taylor Woodrow, retaining 51% of the enlarged group. George Wimpey shareholders undertook a share swap, of 1.3914 New Taylor Woodrow Shares for every George Wimpey share held, enabling them to have a 49% shareholding in Taylor Woodrow. Taylor Woodrow plc then changed its name to Taylor Wimpey plc.
Operations
UK housebuilding
From 1921 to the early 1990s Taylor Woodrow marketed its housebuilding operations under the eponymous name of 'Taylor Woodrow Homes'. In the early 1990s, the housebuilding operations were re-branded as 'Taywood Homes', and that brand continued until 2001 when Bryant was acquired: the combined housing operations were initially branded 'Bryant Homes - A Taylor Woodrow Company' and subsequently 'Bryant Homes - by Taylor Woodrow'.
When Wilson Connolly was acquired that business, which had previously traded as 'Wilcon Homes', was also re-branded 'Bryant Homes - by Taylor Woodrow'.
Following the merger with George Wimpey, the 'by Taylor Woodrow' suffix has been dropped, and the operations now trade as 'Bryant Homes'.
Taylor Woodrow Construction
Over the years, the construction division, Taylor Woodrow Construction has undertaken a number of landmark projects including airports, cathedrals, football stadia, railway tunnels and roads. It has also built Tesco supermarkets.
Taylor Woodrow has also undertaken projects under the Private Finance Initiative including schools, and more recently, hospitals, until July 2007. It also provides facilities management and specialist engineering consultancy services.
In September 2008 it was announced that Vinci would buy Taylor Woodrow Construction.[5]
North American operations
In 1936 Taylor Woodrow entered the Canadian construction market through the acquisition of Monarch Development Corporation, founded in 1917, and now one of Canada’s oldest, largest and most diversified real estate companies.
In 1953 the company purchased a controlling interest in a newly established business, Monarch Mortgage and Investments Limited, which owned land, apartment complexes, stores, and houses in the Toronto area.
Monarch's primary focus today is on residential development and construction, including master-planned communities featuring single family homes and townhomes. In 1994 Monarch entered into the high-rise sector. It mainly trades in the Ontario area under the name 'Monarch-by Taylor Woodrow' with the strapline 'Inspired by you'.
Taylor Woodrow also has substantial house building operations in certain parts of the USA. These operations are marketed under the brand 'Taylor Woodrow' with the strapline 'Inspired by you', and estates can be found in California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida.
The company has also made acquisitions in North America: Sandbury Homes in Ontario and Journey Homes in Arizona.
A large number of employees have been dismissed throughout the United States, primarily in Florida. This was due to the drop in housing sales and closings during FY 2006 and FY 2007.
Head Offices
Although Taylor Woodrow's UK operations were traditionally based in the North, Frank Taylor always wanted his operations run from London.
Frank Taylor first hired a small office in London, but realising the need to expand, he purchased 100 acres (0.40 km2) of land on the Grand Union Canal at Northolt in Middlesex and in 1954 built his new headquarters, a 'state of the art' square shaped office block there; the offices were designed so that they could be converted into houses if extra funds were needed. It included a quadrangle containing a car park in the middle. The site also benefited from a construction yard used to house machinery, a sports centre for staff and their friends, a garage to service company cars, and playing fields for staff to enjoy after work if they so wished.
Following the acquisition of Bryant, which had their Head Office in Solihull in the West Midlands, the combined operations were initially based in Northolt but in 2002 the company relocated to Solihull. Although the decision proved inconvenient for some staff, it was welcomed by most, as by then the Northolt building was very run down, with broken windows, malfunctioning heating, and no air conditioning. It also had a large number of separate office rooms, meaning that there was no modern open plan layout. It has since been almost completely demolished and replaced by a nursing home.
Leadership
To read a biography of Frank Taylor, see Francis Taylor, Baron Taylor of Hadfield.
Frank Taylor had ambitious plans for the business, expanding it from a small, regional UK house builder in the North of England, to a large international organisation. The business over expanded, there was a lack of focus and a number of the businesses were under performing, which attracted criticism from institutional investors after Frank Taylor listed the business on the London Stock Exchange on 7 March 1947 to raise cash for expansion.
Frank Taylor's mass diversification was not the only aspect of his business philosophy which raised eyebrows. He was a strong supporter of the Conservative Party, donating money and becoming friendly with the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. Taylor Woodrow, as a company, also gave political donations, both to the Conservative Party and to the Labour Party.
'Teamwork' logo and statue
Taylor Woodrow logo in use until 2001
Recognising the need for Taylor Woodrow to have a bold and distinctive corporate identity symbol, Frank Taylor decided to hold a competition - encouraging all his team members to enter and use their imagination to create a symbol which would enable Taylor Woodrow to be recognised. In the end, a foreman won, with the creation of what was effectively four strong men having a tug of war (with the other end of the tug of war not being shown). Some people have nick-named the logo 'the four men pulling on the rope'. The original incarnation used until 2001, was a red two-dimensional symbol, with blue script in bold capital letters beneath the symbol.
In 1956 David Wynne was appointed to construct a statue depiction of the 'Teamwork' device: this initially proved controversial as the men on the statue were shown naked. It was placed outside Taylor Woodrow's head office in Northolt, Middlesex.
Teamwork by David Wynne, 1956, outside the Solihull office
In January 2001, following the acquisition of Bryant Homes, the Taylor Woodrow management decided to review the corporate identity. They appointed Barrett Howe, a marketing agency, to update the logo and make it three-dimensional. The result is shown in the box at the top of this article.
In February 2006 the 'Teamwork' statue was moved to the new head office in Solihull.
Bibliography
- Jenkins, Alan (1971). On Site 1921-71. Heinemann:London. p. 226p. ISBN 0434908908.
- Jenkins, Alan (1980). Built on Teamwork - Sequel to On Site. Heinemann:London. p. 245p. ISBN 0434372897.
References
External links
