 | |
| Industry | Construction |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1939 |
| Defunct | 2010 |
| Fate | Administration |
| Successor | Balfour Beatty |
| Headquarters | Exeter, UK |
Key people | Stephen Pettit, (Chairman) Garvis Snook, (CEO) |
Number of employees | 4,000 (2010) |
Rok plc was a British construction company, based in Exeter. Rok went into administration in 2010.
The company, which began trading under the name Exeter Building Contractors Ltd, was formed in 1939 to undertake government contracts being issued at the start of the Second World War. [1] [2] Its effectiveness during the conflict was such that it was decided to continue trading in peacetime. It soon adapted the name EBC Group and acquired several other regional businesses in the ensuring decades. [2]
During 1981, EBC Group joined the unlisted securities market of the London Stock Exchange; it was upgraded to the exchange's official list seven years later. [2] Thereafter, the business expanded into the southern region, opening up an office in Eastleigh to support this and obtaining another in Reading via an acquisition. [2]
The early 1990s proved to be a particularly lucrative era for the firm, generating good returns from both its contracting and property divisions. [3] The decade presented new opportunities for EBC Group, including National Lottery-funded projects and the private finance initiative model. [4]
In mid 2000, shortly following the appointment of Garvis Snook as CEO, the company underwent a major reordering. [5] [2] One year later, the firm was rebranded as Rok; this new name was accompanied by the slogan The Nation's Local Builder. [6] [7]
The early 2000s were a time of considerable growth for the business, which involved a series of office openings and acquisitions, such as the Glasgow-based Retail Maintenance Services, Scottish firm John Dickie Construction, and the southern-focused Llewellyn Group. [2] During late 2003, Rok issued a £116 million bid to acquire rival construction company Galliford Try; however, it was rejected by the board of the latter firm. [8] [9]
During September 2006, Rok purchased the Inverness-based business Tulloch Construction for £31.3 million. All of Tulloch's 875 staff transferred to Rok, included The Corrie Group, Tulloch's engineering, plumbing and electrical division. [10] Two months later, the company launched a restructuring that led to the departure of several senior London-based figured and deemphasised large contracts. [11] One year later, Rok acquired the plumbing and electrical firm Avonside Services in exchange for £16.5 million. [12] In early 2008, it purchased the social housing contractor Richardson Projects for roughly £40.5 million. [13]
The company was negatively impacted by the Great Recession, compelling it to reduce its new-build activities during mid 2009 as its recorded turnover fell by roughly third across the first half of the year. [14] During the following year, Rok issued a profit warning and suspended its head of finance after having identified allegedly serious failings in the firm's financial controls. [15] [16] In response to this fiscal pressure, the company opted to increase the amount of work being performed inhouse where it was feasible to do so. [17]
During November 2010, Rok went into administration after reporting a £3.8 million loss for the first half of the year; [18] [19] it reportedly owed £100 million to its suppliers, [20] and had a £90 million deficit in its pension scheme. [21] The company proceeded to be broken up; Rok's affordable housing and construction businesses were bought by Balfour Beatty for £7 million. Balfour Beatty incorporated the acquires businesses and their 381 employees into Mansell, its regional construction business. [22] A separate branch of Rok emerged as Topcon. [23]
The Clugston Group was a privately owned business involved in construction and civil engineering, property development and logistics. It was based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. On 5 December 2019, the group and its construction businesses filed for administration, with debts of £64m.
Vistry Group, formerly Bovis Homes Group, is a British house-building company based in Kings Hill, England. Bovis Homes completed a deal to acquire Galliford Try's housing arm in January 2020, renaming the combined business Vistry. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 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.
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Trollope & Colls was a British construction company. In the latter decades of the 20th century, it was one of the nation's largest construction companies.
Birse Group was a construction and civil engineering company based in North Yorkshire, England. It was acquired by Balfour Beatty in 2006 who retired the brand in 2014.
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Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd was a construction company, originally founded in 1955. It was located near Stowe, between Buckingham and Silverstone in north Buckinghamshire and operated throughout England and Wales. It went into administration in 2023 with the loss of over 400 jobs and owing over £256 million to creditors and employees.
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Charles Church Developments Limited, trading as Charles Church, is a British upmarket housebuilding company which is headquartered in York, England. The company is named after its co-founder Charles JG Church who established the business in 1965. After a series of complex restructurings and takeovers, the company has been a subsidiary of Persimmon plc since 2001.
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