George Wimpey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Wimpey plc is one of the UK's largest housebuilders with corporate headquarters in London England and UK construction headquarters in High Wycombe. It is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
It also has operations in the United States trading under Morrison Homes.
In 2005 the company made a net profit of £253 million on turnover of £3.003 billion.
[edit] History
In 1880, George Wimpey established a stone working business in Hammersmith. George Wimpey and Company soon became a contractor of ‘high repute' responsible for major building projects as well as new road and tramway contracts throughout London.
In 1919, G W Mitchell purchased the company from the Wimpey family. He continued to expand the road contracting business and during the 1920s he led Wimpey in their first moves into house building. The period between the two world wars saw Wimpey established as a household name in the fields of building and civil engineering.
By the time of the company's centenary in 1980, Wimpey had become a major international contractor and house builder, with branches throughout the world and during the 1970s established its reputation as the UK's largest private house builder. As well as developing its own housing businesses in the UK, Australia and Canada, Wimpey also acquired an experienced US housing business, Morrison Homes, in 1984.
In 1996, McLean Homes was acquired from Tarmac and George Wimpey dedicated itself to home building and became one of the world's largest private housebuilders. In October 2001 McAlpine Homes was acquired adding to the strength of the UK housing business. Late in 2002 George Wimpey Plc acquired Laing Homes to further strengthen the existing UK business by adding a premium brand.
