The origins of Alfred McAlpine are strongly associated with the businessman Alfred McAlpine, a son of 'Concrete' Bob McAlpine, and the north western operations of Sir Robert McAlpine. These operations became legally distinct in 1940; 18 year later, the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange under the name Marchwiel Holdings. By this point, Jimmie McAlpine was the chairman of the company, a position he would hold until 1985. Prior to 1983, the company's operations were constrained by a non-compete agreement with Sir Robert McAlpine; while the geographical restriction was removed, some terms of agreement remained in effect between the two companies.
Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, Alfred McAlpine was a major road builder, being responsible for the construction of over 10% of Britain's motorways, including the M6 Toll (as part of the CAMBBA consortium). During the 1980s, it expanded its presence in the home building sector; by the late 1990s, McAlpine was building over 4,000 houses per year. However, the company opted to sell its homebuilding operations to rival company George Wimpey in August 2001. It also owned and operated Penrhyn Quarry, the country's largest slate works; a major accounting scandal at the company's slate subsidiary occurred during the mid 2000s. During February 2008, Alfred McAlpine was acquired by rival company Carillion in exchange for £572m, which made Carillion the biggest support services company in Britain at that time.
History
Alfred McAlpine was one of the sons of 'Concrete' Bob McAlpine and he ran the operations of Sir Robert McAlpine in the north west of England. In 1935, following the death of Sir Robert and his eldest son, Alfred ran the north west independently, although the legal separation was not completed until 1940, when Sir Alfred McAlpine & Son was formed. Under a non-compete agreement with its former parent company, Sir Alfred McAlpine confined itself to civil engineering and to the north west of England.[2][3]
After the death of its founder, his son Jimmie McAlpine became chairman of the business. During 1958, the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange under the name Marchwiel Holdings, changing its public name to Alfred McAlpine PLC only in 1985.[4] This move came two years after the decision to end the non-compete agreement with Robert McAlpine, allowing the firm to expand geographically.[1] However, some terms agreed by between the two companies were allegedly still in effect, a matter that would lead to legal action being taken into the 21st century.[5][6]
McAlpine's status as a civil engineer was enhanced during the 1960s by its participation in the motorway building programme and the company became one of the country's leading civil engineers. There had been some limited diversification, including the purchase of Penrhyn Quarry, the country's largest slate works. This slate was occasionally used in the business' other activities.[7][8] As the civil engineering market declined in the 1970s, McAlpine sought to diversify further into private housebuilding. Acquisitions included Price Brothers in 1978, Frank Sanderson's Finlas in 1982 and Canberra in 1988. Investments had also been made in the US housing industry. By the end of the 1980s, private housebuilding was contributing the major part of the group's profits.[9]
During 1985, Jimmie retired, and handed over chairmanship of the company to his son Robert James "Bobby" McAlpine.[10] In 1991, Bobby brought in an outside chief executive and resigned as chairman one year later, by which time the family no longer owned a controlling shareholding in the business. Under new management, there was further concentration on private housebuilding, including the acquisition of Raine Industries. By the late 1990s, McAlpine was building over 4,000 houses per year and was one of the industry's top ten.[9][11]
During the mid 1990s, rival British construction firm Amec Foster Wheeler made an all-share offer to merge with Alfred McAlpine; however, the latter's board voted against the move.[12][13]
By the turn of the century, there was increasing speculation over the future of the company and, in August 2001, Alfred McAlpine sold its housebuilding operations to rival company George Wimpey in exchange for £461m, after which McAlpine announced plans to return in excess of £100m to its shareholders during the following years.[14][15] Later that same year, it acquired Kennedy Utility Management for £52m.[16] In 2002, the business acquired Stiell, a facilities management and information technology network systems business, for £85m.[17][18] In May 2006, Alfred McAlpine commenced its largest ever facilities and building management services contract for Mapeley's entire UK property portfolio; by this point, 75 percent of the company's activities was in the private sector.[19]
During February 2007, the company took a £13m hit after serious accounting irregularities were discovered that were later attributed to the deliberate collusion of several managers at its slate business across multiple years.[20][21] Several former managers later admitted to charges of fraud related to this incident.[22] It was speculated that Alfred McAlpine may have to part with its slate activities entirely.[23]
During October 2007, reports emerged that two takeover bids made by rival company Carillion had been rejected by Alfred McAlpine.[24][25] In February 2008, Carillion acquired the company in exchange for £572m, even though this amount was less than Carillion had originally offered for the firm.[26][27] The move, which made Carillion the biggest support services company in Britain, quickly led to the selling off various parts of the former company being initiated that same year.[28][29]
Structure
It had three business streams:
Business Services: facilities management, information systems, asset management and health and safety management.
Project Services: the Special Projects unit was involved a broad range of commercial, industrial, leisure, educational and medical facilities and the civil engineering unit was focused primarily on road building.
Infrastructure Services: maintenance, renewal and development services to utility operators in the gas, electricity, water and telecoms sectors and roads maintenance services to local government.
It also owned Alfred McAlpine Slate, which was the world's largest producer of natural slate.[20]
George Wimpey was a British construction firm that typically worked in the civil engineering and housebuilding markets. It was, during the 1970s, the largest homebuilder active in the UK.
Amec Foster Wheeler plc was a British multinational consultancy, engineering and project management company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. In October 2017, it was acquired by Wood Group.
Barratt Redrow plc is one of the largest residential property development companies in the United Kingdom operating across England, Wales and Scotland. It is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was originally based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, but is presently located at David Wilson's former offices in Coalville, England.
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Taylor Woodrow was one of the largest housebuilding and general construction companies in Britain. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until its merger with rival housebuilder George Wimpey to create Taylor Wimpey on 3 July 2007.
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Tarmac Group Limited was a British building materials company headquartered in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. It produced road surfacing and heavy building materials including aggregates, concrete, cement and lime, as well as operating as a road construction and maintenance subcontractor. The company was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Sir Robert McAlpine Limited is a family-owned building and civil engineering company based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It carries out engineering and construction in the infrastructure, heritage, commercial, arena and stadium, healthcare, education and nuclear sectors.
Taylor Wimpey plc is one of the largest home construction companies in the United Kingdom.
Morgan Sindall Group plc is a leading British Construction & Regeneration group, headquartered in London employing around 6,700 employees and operating in the public, regulated and private sectors. It reports through six divisions of Construction & Infrastructure, Fit Out, Property Services, Partnership Housing, Urban Regeneration and Investments. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Taylor Woodrow Construction, branded as Taylor Woodrow, is a UK-based civil engineering contractor and one of four operating divisions of Vinci Construction UK. The business was launched in 2011, combining civil engineering operations from the former Taylor Woodrow group and from Vinci UK - formerly Norwest Holst.
Royal BAM Group nv is a Dutch construction-services business with headquarters in Bunnik, Netherlands. It is the largest construction company based on revenue in the Netherlands.
John Wood Group plc, commonly known as Wood, is a British multinational engineering and consulting business with headquarters in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange as well as being a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
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Galliford Try plc is a British construction company based in Uxbridge, England. It was created through a merger in 2000 of two businesses: Try Group, founded in 1908 in London, and Galliford, founded in 1916.
The Consulting Association (TCA) was a controversial UK business, based in Droitwich, which, from 1993 to 2009, maintained a database of British construction workers and became implicated in a "blacklisting" scandal, which is ongoing. Revelations about the database resulted in the business being shut down, the Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010, a Parliamentary enquiry, High Court actions leading to compensation payouts valued at between £50m and £250m in total, and a series of cases being brought to the European Court of Human Rights.
Sir Joseph Anthony Dwyer was a British civil engineer and businessman. He joined Wimpey in 1955 and spent 44 years with the firm, becoming chief executive officer and chairman.
↑ "Alfred McAlpine". UK Business Park. 21 March 2001. Archived from the original on 2 October 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2008. Alfred McAlpine has acquired Kennedy, the Manchester-based construction services group, for £52m.
↑ "Alfred McAlpine". UK Business Park. 4 March 2002. Archived from the original on 2 October 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2008. Alfred McAlpine has acquired Stiell, the facilities management company with 1,200 staff at offices in Glasgow, Manchester, London and Belfast, for £85m.
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