We may be the longest established Tier One contractor, yet the thing we are proudest of has never been our age. It is the people who work for us, the customers we work with, the places we create together, and the difference we make to communities across the country.

This is a quick introduction to who we are, what we believe in, and why customers, colleagues and partners choose to build their futures with us. Whether you are thinking about working with us, joining us, or partnering with us, we would love you to get to know us a little better.

Our story so far

We have been building since 1852, which makes us the UK’s oldest Tier One contractor. In 2027 we will celebrate our 175th anniversary, still privately owned, still family-led, and still taking the long view.

  • Founded in 1852 - the UK’s oldest Tier One contractor, in our sixth generation of family stewardship
  • £1.11 billion turnover in 2025
  • 2,000 people across 16 UK locations
  • Brilliant places delivered the length and breadth of England and Wales
  • Five King’s and Queen’s Awards for Enterprise - among the most prestigious honours in British business

A company people are proud to call home

Great buildings are built by great people, so we work hard to be the kind of company our teams never want to leave. It shows in their loyalty, and in the independent recognition we earn year after year.

Recognised as one of the best places to work anywhere in Europe

  • 4th best workplace in Europe (Financial Times, 2025) - one of only two UK companies in the top ten
  • Construction’s best big company to work for (The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2025)
  • 81st in the FT Diversity Leaders list - the highest-placed Tier One UK contractor
  • Platinum in Investors in People for our Construction business, and Gold for Interiors
  • Platinum member of The 5% Club, with over 10% of our people in ‘earn as you learn’ schemes
  • Gold Award in the Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition Scheme

A team that stays - and grows

  • 98% people engagement score in our annual ‘YourSay’ survey
  • Nearly 700 colleagues with more than ten years’ service - over 11,000 years, or 110 centuries, of combined experience for our customers
  • 34% of our workforce are women, more than double the industry average of 16%, as we work towards gender parity in management
  • An Accident Frequency Rate of 0.09 across 11.6 million working hours - keeping each other, our partners and the public safe is non-negotiable
Our promise to every person who joins us is a “career of a lifetime”, and our mission is a simple one: to be the UK’s best contractor to work for.

The partner customers come back to

More than two thirds of our work comes from customers who have chosen us before. We earn that loyalty through long-term relationships, financial certainty and consistent quality.

  • Over 65% of turnover comes from repeat customers
  • A record 81% of turnover delivered through long-term public-sector frameworks
  • The only contractor present on three of the five frameworks recognised by ‘Constructing the Gold Standard’
  • A record £4.4 billion five-year forward pipeline, up 31% on the prior year
  • A debt-free balance sheet with £127.3 million of cash and an undrawn £45 million credit facility - strength and certainty that customers and supply chain partners can rely on

Recent recognition for the quality of what we deliver

  • Stockport Interchange - Best Project Above £50m at the Construction News Awards
  • Bristol Beacon - our project director named CIOB Construction Manager of the Year for leading this complex Grade II listed refurbishment
  • Energy Synergy® - winner of two categories at the CIBSE Building Performance Awards, including Next Generation of Building Performance

A force for good in every community we work in

We believe every project should leave a place better than we found it. Social value is not an add-on for us - it is built into how we work, co-created with our customers on every single job. In 2025:

  • £472.0 million of social return on investment generated on our live projects
  • 100% of our projects delivered a social value plan, co-created with the customer
  • £5.32 million spent with social enterprises
  • 93% of our people delivered a social value activity
  • Over 11,000 hours volunteered on community activities
  • 3,500+ people supported through employability sessions, with 23 helped into sustainable employment — seven of them hired directly by us
  • 91% of beneficiaries told us our community work had a high impact on their lives

A passion to lead on sustainability

Sustainability runs through everything we build - and our progress is independently verified.

  • A CDP A rating for the second consecutive year, placing us among fewer than 3% of disclosing companies worldwide
  • Carbon and energy data independently verified by Bureau Veritas
  • 63% reduction in absolute carbon emissions since our 2018 baseline, and 85% relative to turnover since 2010
  • Nearly £1.45 billion of net zero, BREEAM and Passivhaus projects on site or in pre-construction
  • 93 projects completed embodied carbon assessments in 2025
  • Over 54,500 trees planted since 2020, on the way to 100,000 by 2030