Our History

In 2007, George Wimpey and Taylor Woodrow merged to form Taylor Wimpey. Both companies have a proud and illustrious heritage, with a history of successful homebuilding and construction.

Though based in the UK, both companies have worked across parts of Europe, the United States, Australia, Asia and Africa. In the UK, the two companies had an important role in creating and improving homes and communities and regenerating urban areas. Both Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey were household names, particularly in the field of homebuilding, which is the area that we, as Taylor Wimpey, are now focused on.

Our company is the product of these decades of experience and expertise. We have continually adapted to changing needs, environments, and regulations to improve our business.

1880

2011

George Wimpey

Taylor Woodrow

Taylor Wimpey

  • 1880
  • 1890
  • 1907
  • 1919
  • 1921
  • 1929
  • 1930
  • 1930
  • 1934
  • 1935
  • 1936
  • 1937
  • 1947
  • 1948
  • 1950
  • 1950
  • 1951
  • 1953
  • 1954
  • 1954
  • 1958
  • 1960
  • 1961
  • 1966
  • 1968
  • 1968
  • 1969
  • 1970
  • 1970
  • 1972
  • 1975
  • 1980
  • 1980
  • 1984
  • 1994
  • 1994
  • 1995
  • 1996
  • 1999
  • 2001
  • 2001
  • 2002
  • 2003
  • 2003
  • 2003
  • 2005
  • 2007
  • 2008
  • 2009
  • 2010
  • 2011

Temp

George Wimpey sets up a UK stone working business
in Hammersmith.

Begins roadwork for London's first electric tramway.

Begins building tramways and roadways for Middlesex County Council and the 1908
London Olympics.

Temp

Becomes a private company as GW Mitchell purchased it from the Wimpey family. The company expanded the road contracting business and became established as a household name in the fields of building and civil engineering.

Temp

16-year-old Frank Taylor builds two homes in Blackpool. As he was too young to form his own company his uncle Jack Woodrow lent his name to the business. Initially Taylor & Woodrow, which later became Taylor Woodrow Limited.

Enters the private housing business, opening its first development, the Greenford Park Estate.

Temp

Begins building an average of 1,200 houses a year.

Contributes to the war effort, building an ordnance factory, airfields, a penicillin factory, and helping construct the Mulberry ports, used in France after the D-Day landings.

Temp

Becomes a public company.

Temp

Becomes a public traded company. First employee newsletter published with a photo of three men pulling a rope. 20 years later this inspires the Taylor Woodrow logo.

Now building on average more than 50 homes a week. Frank Taylor makes his first American land purchase.

Temp

Expands into contracting and civil engineering, forming Taylor Woodrow Construction Limited. This became the mainstay of Taylor Woodrow's operations for the next 60 years.

Temp

Perfects the 'no fines' technique, allowing walls to be poured with no fine aggregate in the concrete and homes to be constructed without bricks. The method provided excellent insulation and was used to build more homes for local authorities than any other system.

Now building houses, schools and factories in England, North America and Africa.

Builds 18,000 Local Authority homes a year in the UK. It also builds its first Canadian housing development, and begins building three power stations in Hong Kong.

Receives its first major office-building contract.

Expands its operations into Australia.

Begins construction on the world's first full-scale nuclear power station. Taylor Woodrow Canada is formed. Buys stake in Monarch Mortgage and Investments Limited.

Begins building houses for private sale again and wins the contract to build its first hydroelectric plant.

Begins two decades of construction at London Heathrow Airport and now has projects underway on every continent.

Begins operations in Spain.

Temp

Appointed main contractor to build the New Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King at Liverpool in 1960.

Wimpey Construction builds The Queen Elizabeth II grandstand at Ascot, built in just 10 months ready for the Royal Ascot Meeting in June 1961

Temp

Taylor Woodrow International builds the Hong Kong Ocean Terminal and receives the prestigious Queen's Award for its development of a new silent piledriver, the Pilemaster.

Temp

Wimpey Construction builds the world's largest shipbuilding dock in Belfast

Temp

Taylor Woodrow constructs an aluminium smelter in Invergordan, Scotland, for the British Aluminium Company

Temp

Wimpey Construction builds Britain's highest dam, at Lllyn Brianne in Wales

George Wimpey Canada builds 2,000 homes in one year.

Temp

Taylor Woodrow begins The St. Katherine's Dock project in London: one of the most ambitious private urban developments ever undertaken in the city.

Temp

Awarded a contract, with a partner, for the largest offshore oil platform ever commissioned.

Launches the development arm Wimpey Property Holdings.

Becomes the UK's largest private housebuilder, selling 106,440 homes in the previous decade. Becomes a founding member of the Channel Tunnel Group (later TransManche Link).

Becomes a founding member of the Channel Tunnel Group (later TransManche Link).

Buys American homebuilder Morrison Homes.

The Chunnel, the rail tunnel beneath the English Channel, opens. George Wimpey and Taylor Woodrow are two of the five UK contractors to work on the project.

The Chunnel, the rail tunnel beneath the English Channel, opens. Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey are two of the five UK contractors to work on the project.

Exhanges its construction and minerals divisions with Tarmac plc for Tarmac's home division, McLean Homes.

Morrison Homes in the USA begins construction of 'Celebration'. A pioneering concept, based on community values and an innovative combination of neo-traditional architecture, education, health and technology.

Taylor Woodrow begins Greenwich Millenium Village (GMV), London: the first of the Government's Millenium Communities and part of the Thames Gateway regeneration project.

Successfully completes merger of Wimpey Homes and McLean homes to form a single UK housing business. Buys McAlpine Homes in the UK, and Richardson Homes in the US.

Buys the Bryant Group and begins selling homes as 'Bryant Homes by Taylor Woodrow'.

Temp

Buys premium-brand builder, Laing Homes.

George Wimpey begins Westoe Crown Village - A sustainable, mixed use development on the site of a former colliery.

George Wimpey start on
site at Standerwick Orchard in
Somerset. The development
contains a series of grouped
cottages, built with traditional
materials including natural
stone, slate and thatched roofs.

Temp

Buys Wilson Connolly to increase its presence in the North West, North East and East Anglia.

Temp

Taylor Woodrow beings building Stamford Brook in Cheshire, developed in partnership with the National Trust, providing 710 homes and built using pioneering technologies.

Temp

George Wimpey's Highgate development in Durham is awarded 'Building for Life' Gold standard.

Temp

George Wimpey and Taylor Woodrow merge to create the UK's largest housebuilder, Taylor Wimpey

We complete the sale of the UK business of Taylor Woodrow Construction to Vinci. Stepping back substantially from construction activities allows us to focus on our core housebuilding operations.

We sell our construction business in Ghana, marking an end to all our construction activities.

Temp

Taylor Wimpey's Raploch development in Scotland wins a series of awards for community engagement and skills and training at the Homes for Scotland Quality Awards and the Scottish Home Awards.

Taylor Wimpey begins Great Western Park, a major urban extension to Didcot Oxfordshire, providing 3,300 homes and associated infrastructure, the site features retail, leisure facilities and extensive open space.

Temp

Taylor Wimpey begins the ambitious Rowner Renewal Project in Portsmouth, featuring the destruction of a dilapidated 1960's estate and the construction of 700 brand new sustainable homes.

We leave the Gibraltar housing market.

Temp

We leave North American operations with the sale of our US and Canadian businesses (Taylor Morrison and Monarch).