Willmott Dixon

History

The company was founded at Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire by a bricklayer, John Willmott, in 1852. During the second half of the 19th century and much of the 20th century, the company remained small.

During 1975, the company opened its first building repair and maintenance depot; this business sector would prove to be a key area for the future of the company. By 1980, John Willmott was recording turnovers of nearly £30 million per annum. During the early 1980s, the company bought a motorhome, made by Winnebago Industries, from which to conduct board meetings at regional locations and thereby keep in touch with local management. Furthermore, the company decided to expand internationally around this time, setting up in both Egypt and Portugal.

Through the early 1990s, various public sector bodies, from local authorities to housing associations, issued numerous large construction contracts to the company. During early 1992, as part of parts to increase turnover by 50% within 24 months, Willmott Dixon created a new holding company, Willmott Dixon Housing, that oversaw two of its operating companies, Eastern and Southern, that primarily built homes for housing associations; another division, Willmott Dixon Housing Refurbishment, was launched to capitalise on growing demand within the refurbishment market; it sought to provide a specialist service for social housing.

During the early 1990s, the company made several acquisitions, such as of the Cheltenham-based firm Kalkare Property Maintenance and the Cardiff-based contractor Turner Western, as part of its expansion programme; in March 1992, it put further acquisitions on hold after pre-tax profits dropped to £914,000.

In 1998, Willmott Dixon recorded that its pre-tax profits for the previous year had nearly trebled, reaching £2.3 million.

During 2000, the company moved its headquarters from London to the Spirella Building in Letchworth. One year later, Rick Willmott became the fifth generation of the Willmott family to lead the business.

During May 2005, Willmott Dixon opted to spin out its social housing business, Inspace, which it listed on the London Stock Exchange. However, in January 2008, the company re-acquired Inspace in exchange for £148 million. Following the reacquisition, Willmott Dixon opted to reshape its group structure and simplify the brands it traded under.

In 2009, the company was fined £4.5 million by the Office of Fair Trading over alleged bid-rigging within the company’s tenders across a seven year period. Two years later, several suppliers to the company publicly spoke out on their dissatisfaction of Willmott Dixon's introduction of several management service fees for routine tasks such as payment processing.

During March 2013, Willmott Dixon invested £1 million in the 4Life Academy, located in Perry Barr, Birmingham. That same year, it launched a new company to provide private rented accommodation for young professionals. During October 2014, the firm lost a legal challenge over the awarding of a £177 million contract to rival company Mitie by Hammersmith and Fulham Council.

In early 2016, the company put its support services division up for sale; the move was subsequently abandoned. That same year, it was announced that Willmott Dixon Partnerships changed its name to Fortem under a rebranding strategy that sought grow the company outside its core social housing market. Furthermore, the firm also merged its two residential divisions together; it was allegedly considering its floatation around this time.

In January 2024, Rick Willmott stepped down as group chief executive and became Willmott Dixon's new executive chairman; he was replaced by Graham Dundas, the former chief financial officer. Later that same year, the company reported a pre-tax loss before exceptional items of £5.2 million despite a record order book of £3 billion; this outcome was attributed to insolvencies in its supply chain.

Operations

Willmott Dixon has several business streams including construction, residential construction and interior fit out and refurbishment. In 2017, it sold a 70% stake in its London-based residential development business Be Living to Malaysia's EcoWorld International, creating EcoWorld London.

Major projects

Major projects involving the company have included:

• Runnymede Civic Centre, completed in 2008
• Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, completed in 2010
• University of Worcester Arena, completed in 2013
• Woolwich Central, the largest ever development by Tesco's in-house development business Spenhill, was completed in 2014. The development was named Britain's worst new building, being awarded the 'Carbuncle Cup' for a design judges described as "oppressive, defensive, arrogant and inept".
• Keynsham Civic Centre, completed in 2015
• The refurbishment and fit out of the Design Museum in Kensington, completed in 2016
• A specialist building in Exeter, housing the Met Office's new supercomputer, completed in 2017
• The redevelopment of Orchard Village in South Hornchurch, completed in 2017. Since its construction, Orchard Village has been beset with problems of build quality and estate management which have been reported in the media, in particular by the Romford Recorder
• The fit out of the new hospitality suite in the East Stand at Twickenham Stadium, completed in 2018
• The refurbishment of Alexandra Palace, completed in 2018
• Brentford FC's new Community Stadium at Lionel Road South in Brentford, London, completed in 2020
• Bassaleg School, Newport, completed in 2023

The company is also working with Poplar HARCA to redevelop Aberfeldy Village in Poplar, London, due to complete in 2024.

Fire safety provisions

Woolwich Central was the subject of a £46.7 million claim by Tesco against Willmott Dixon for cladding replacement; Willmott Dixon then sought to reclaim the same amount from five members of its supply chain: Lindner Exteriors and its subsidiary Prater, architect Sheppard Robson, AIS Surveyors, and fire engineer AECOM. When the case was heard in February 2023, two suppliers countered by saying the problems arose due to Willmott Dixon's negligence. The financial impact of the Woolwich Central project continued to be felt in July 2024, when Willmott Dixon said costs to fix the scheme had risen from £44m to £48m - a figure later revised upwards to £52m.

In June 2023, Willmott Dixon said its financial performance had also been adversely affected by costs associated with Building Safety Act compliance. CEO Rick Willmott said: "The aggregate provision for these legacy issues stands at a very material £62 million and we naturally expect to recover a substantial portion of this from designers, fire engineers, supply chain and insurers who, so far, have not faced up to their responsibilities or obligations across those 'in scope' projects." In July 2024, Willmott Dixon said it had recovered £6.6m of its building safety compliance costs and expected more successful future claims in the future; a year later, the company reported it had recovered £20m.

Awards

The company was listed as No. 4 in the East of England Region of the mid range businesses of The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For in July 2019. It also won the Queen's Award for Enterprise in 2014, 2018 and 2019.

Subsidiaries

Willmott Dixon Holdings subsidiaries include:

References

References

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6. (15 December 2011). "It does not take much to say well done". Camden FB.
7. (20 December 1990). "21Dec90 UK: WILLMOTT DIXON WINS EDUCATION AND OFFICE CONTRACTS IN HUNTINGDON AND STROOD".
8. (7 March 1991). "08Mar91 UK: CONTRACT – HARINGEY, LONDON N8; WILLMOTT DIXON HOUSING".
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10. (6 February 1992). "06Feb92 UK: WILLMOTT DIXON FORMS NEW PARENT COMPANY CALLED WILLMOTT DIXON HOUSING".
11. (7 May 1992). "07May92 UK: WILLMOTT DIXON TO LAUNCH HOUSING REFURBISHMENT ARM".
12. (18 April 1991). "19Apr91 UK: WILLMOTT DIXON SWOOPS TO BUY KALKARE PROPERTY MAINTENANCE".
13. (13 June 1991). "14Jun91 UK: WILLMOTT DIXON BUYS TURNER WESTERN OF CARDIFF".
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42. (14 July 2017). "Project of the year: £20m to £50m". Construction News.
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50. "Willmott Dixon wins £25m Newport school job".
51. (13 July 2013). "Willmott Dixon to start on £250m East End estate".
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55. Vogel, Ben. (16 February 2023). "Suppliers blame Willmott Dixon's 'negligence' in cladding court battle". Construction News.
56. (19 July 2024). "Willmott Dixon says cladding repair bill on Tesco job up again with decision on firm’s legal action against supply chain due next year". Building.
57. (11 June 2025). "Willmott Dixon says cladding repair bill on Tesco job has topped £50m". Building.
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62. "Our structure".
63. "Development - EcoWorld London".