Kier Group plc is a British
construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
, services and
property
Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...
group active in
building
A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...
and
civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...
, support services, and the
Private Finance Initiative
The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 199 ...
.
Founded in 1928 in
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
it initially specialised in concrete engineering before expanding into general contracting and house-building. Kier was listed as a public company on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
from 1963 until it was acquired by
Beazer
Beazer was a family business for six generationsC.H.Beazer (Holdings) Prospectus, July 1973 before expanding in the 1980s into international housebuilding, construction and building materials group. After becoming overburdened with debt it was r ...
in 1986. After a period under the ownership of
Hanson plc
Hanson UK, formerly Hanson Trust plc, is a British-based building materials company, headquartered in Maidenhead. The company has been a subsidiary of the German company HeidelbergCement since August 2007, and was formerly listed on the London S ...
, it was bought out by its management in 1992, expanded its housing interests, and was relisted on the London Stock Exchange in 1996.
During the early 21st century, it expanded through acquisitions, and, following the January 2018 collapse of rival
Carillion
Carillion plc was a British multinational construction and facilities management services company headquartered in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom, prior to its liquidation in January 2018.
Carillion was created in July 1999, following a ...
, Kier was briefly ranked, by turnover, as the second biggest UK construction contractor, behind
Balfour Beatty
Balfour Beatty plc () is an international infrastructure group based in the United Kingdom with capabilities in construction services, support services and infrastructure investments. A constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, Balfour Beatty works ac ...
. It was then a constituent of the
FTSE 250 Index
The FTSE 250 Index ( "Footsie") is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions and demotions to and from the index occur quarterly in March, June, Septemb ...
. However, its share price plunged following a failed
rights issue
A rights issue or rights offer is a dividend of subscription rights to buy additional securities in a company made to the company's existing security holders. When the rights are for equity securities, such as shares, in a public company, it can be ...
in late 2018, and by mid 2019 was suffering such deep losses that analysts considered Kier might "go bust".
After an extensive restructuring, debt reduction, cost-cutting and disposals programme, which included shedding 1,700 employees and selling its Bedfordshire headquarters and its public and private housebuilding arm, Kier Living, the company scraped back into profit in 2021.
History
Foundation
The company was founded by Jorgen Lotz and
Olaf Kier
Olaf Kier, (c.1899 - 1986) was the founder of Kier Group, one of the United Kingdom's largest construction businesses.
Career
Born and educated in Denmark as Olaf Kiaer,[Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...]
engineers, under the name Lotz & Kier in 1928, and it was based in
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
.
A few years later Lotz withdrew from the company, but Olaf Kier retained a semblance of his identity by including Lotz's initials in the organisation's new name, J.L. Kier & Co Ltd, which remained the company's principal title for over four decades.
Pre-World War II
By the late 1930s Kier had moved its head office to
Belgravia
Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...
in
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
, and thereby became neighbours to many of Britain's leading construction engineering consultants and contractors, who had formed a substantial coterie in Westminster for professionals and businessmen engaged in civil engineering. Immediate neighbours included Marples Ridgeway (builders of
Hammersmith Flyover) and
Edmund Nuttall (builders of both
Mersey road tunnels).
Concrete engineering
During its first 35 years, Kier became identified with certain civil engineering specialisms, such as contiguous cylindrical reinforced concrete grain silos and cement silos, using continuously sliding formwork; commencing with those at Barking in 1929, followed by grain silos at Northampton, Peterborough, Melksham, Gloucester and Witham; and cement silos at Norwich, Cambridge, Trinidad, and in India.
Such specialist work was part of a pattern that quickly developed in the company's operations during that period, namely the undertaking of innovative, state-of-the-art civil engineering techniques at the forefront of modern technology. Other elements within this pattern were hyperbolic natural draft cooling towers (mostly around 300 ft high), monolithic concrete chimneys (sometimes over 400 ft high), complete power station structures, and coastal works such as tanker berths, docks and harbours.
In the same period, only this time in the building sector, Kier were in the vanguard of new reinforced concrete systems for use as framework for tall buildings. Their most famous contribution in this field was an eight-storey ''avant-garde'' development of apartment blocks named
Highpoint Highpoint can refer to:
*Highpoint, Florida, an unincorporated community near Tampa Bay
*Highpoint Shopping Centre in Melbourne, Australia
*Highpoint (building), an apartment building in London, United Kingdom.
*Highpoint I, a set of 1930s apartment ...
, located in
Highgate Village
Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross.
Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisati ...
, north London. They were responsible for the reinforced concrete and general building.
When this project was completed in 1935 it became widely renowned as the finest example of this form of construction for residential purposes. When
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
himself visited Highpoint in 1935 he said, "This beautiful building .... at Highgate is an achievement of the first rank."
And American critic
Henry Russell Hitchcock
Henry-Russell Hitchcock (1903–1987) was an American architectural historian, and for many years a professor at Smith College and New York University. His writings helped to define the characteristics of modernist architecture.
Early life
He ...
called it, "One of the finest, if not absolutely the finest, middle-class housing projects in the world"
[ (in 1970 both Highpoint blocks were classified Grade I ]listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
s).
Kier dynasty
Olaf Kier sought to retain family leaders at the head of the organisation. However, his son by his first marriage was killed in a riding accident in 1945. Then, during the 1950s, Olaf's nephew, Mogens Kier, joined the firm's management structure, but did not progress to a leading position in the company. Olaf died in an accident in 1986, aged 87; and Mogens died in 2003.
Post-World War II
J.L. Kier & Co Ltd remained a private company until 1963, when it obtained a listing on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
and became a public company. Its offer for shares was many times oversubscribed. The Kier family retained a significant majority of the holding. In 1973 Kier merged with W. & C. French to form French Kier but within the French division there were heavy losses on fixed-price motorway contracts and land development. A long-serving Kier engineer, John Mott, was appointed chief executive in order to revive the group's fortunes. Following an abortive bid for Abbey in 1985, French Kier itself was the subject of a hotly contested bid by Beazer
Beazer was a family business for six generationsC.H.Beazer (Holdings) Prospectus, July 1973 before expanding in the 1980s into international housebuilding, construction and building materials group. After becoming overburdened with debt it was r ...
, which eventually succeeded in January 1986.[Wellings, Fred: ''Dictionary of British Housebuilders'' (2006) Troubador. ]
Five years later (1991) Hanson plc
Hanson UK, formerly Hanson Trust plc, is a British-based building materials company, headquartered in Maidenhead. The company has been a subsidiary of the German company HeidelbergCement since August 2007, and was formerly listed on the London S ...
bought Beazer plc and made an early decision to dispose of the contracting arm, now known simply as Kier. This was the subject of a management buyout
A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...
in July 1992, with Hanson retaining a 10 per cent stake.
In 1993 Kier decided to re-enter the housing market with the £30m acquisition of Twigden Homes. This was followed by acquisitions of the southern division of Miller Homes in 1996, Bellwinch in 1998, and Allison Homes in 2001. By 2004, Kier housing sales were over 1,000 units a year. Kier was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996.
21st century
In 2009, Mivan Kier, Kier's Romanian joint venture with the Northern Irish group Mivan, which invested in real estate projects in Bucharest, requested bankruptcy protection
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
due to debts of €20 million.
In 2013, Kier acquired the services firm May Gurney for £221 million, becoming the then fourth largest contracting firm in the UK (behind Balfour Beatty
Balfour Beatty plc () is an international infrastructure group based in the United Kingdom with capabilities in construction services, support services and infrastructure investments. A constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, Balfour Beatty works ac ...
, Carillion
Carillion plc was a British multinational construction and facilities management services company headquartered in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom, prior to its liquidation in January 2018.
Carillion was created in July 1999, following a ...
and Laing O'Rourke
Laing O'Rourke is a multinational construction company headquartered in Dartford, England. It was founded in 1978 by Ray O'Rourke. It is the largest privately owned construction company in the United Kingdom.
History
The company was founded by ...
). In June 2015 Kier completed the acquisition of Mouchel
Mouchel Group was an infrastructure and business services company headquartered in Woking, United Kingdom. It provided advisory, design, project delivery and managed services associated with infrastructure and business services across the high ...
, a business which included infrastructure services and business services divisions, for £265 million; Mouchel Infrastructure Services was rebranded as Mouchel Consulting, and sold to WSP Global
WSP Global Inc. is a Canadian company with American and British roots, providing management and consultancy services to the built and natural environment. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. After the purchase of New York-headquartered ...
in October 2016. In July 2017 Kier acquired McNicholas Construction, another UK infrastructure services provider. Based on its turnover in the year ending June 2017, Kier was ranked in 2018 as the second biggest UK construction contractor, behind Balfour Beatty
Balfour Beatty plc () is an international infrastructure group based in the United Kingdom with capabilities in construction services, support services and infrastructure investments. A constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, Balfour Beatty works ac ...
.
2018-2021 financial difficulties
After the liquidation of rival Carillion in January 2018, Kier took on some Carillion staff and contracts: 150 Carillion workers employed on smart motorway
A smart motorway (formerly managed motorway and active traffic management), also known in Scotland as an intelligent transport system, is a section of motorway in the United Kingdom (primarily in England) that employs active traffic managemen ...
joint ventures became Kier employees; 51 Carillion employees working on seven HS2
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...
civil engineering packages awarded to the CEK joint venture were allowed to join Kier/Eiffage
Eiffage S.A. is a French civil engineering construction company. it was the third largest company of its type in France, and the fifth largest in Europe.
History
The company was formed in 1992 through the merger of several long standing compani ...
. However, because Kier shared characteristics that contributed to Carillion's collapse – problem contracts, rising debts, and use of reverse factoring supply chain finance – City hedge fund
A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as sho ...
s began to 'short
Short may refer to:
Places
* Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon
* Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community
* Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place
People
* Short (surname)
* List of people known as ...
' Kier's shares; 10.9% were shorted by 30 August 2018, later rising to 18%, though Kier's position was not seen to be as risky as Carillion's. The 2018 results were in line with City expectations – showing a pre-tax profit of £137m from stable revenue of £4.5 billion – with Kier outlining clear debt reduction plans. On 15 November 2018, Kier announced the £24m sale of its Australian road assets business KHSA to joint venture partner Downer, saying sale proceeds would help reduce net debt – £624m at 31 October 2018.
However, on 30 November, Kier announced a £264m rights issue
A rights issue or rights offer is a dividend of subscription rights to buy additional securities in a company made to the company's existing security holders. When the rights are for equity securities, such as shares, in a public company, it can be ...
, priced at 409p, to pay down net debts; the announcement led to Kier shares dropping almost 33%, cutting Kier's stock market value by £329m to £492m. The slide continued; on 3 December shares were trading around 40% lower than before the rights issue announcement. On 5 December, Kier was demoted from the FTSE 250 Index
The FTSE 250 Index ( "Footsie") is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions and demotions to and from the index occur quarterly in March, June, Septemb ...
, and its share price dropped below the rights issue price, making it cheaper for investors to buy shares in the open market than in the rights issue, and leaving underwriters (Numis
Numis is an independent institutional stockbroker and corporate advisor with its main headquarters in the City of London. By the autumn of 2017, the firm had 195 stock market clients, and a February 2018 report by Adviser Rankings Ltd found that ...
, Peel Hunt, Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...
, HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...
and Santander
Santander may refer to:
Places
* Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain
* Santander Department, a department of Colombia
* Santander State, former state of Colombia
* Santander de Quilichao, a m ...
) facing losses. Shares were also subject to renewed 'shorting'. On 10 December, shares closed at 376.4p, a 15-year low. Only 38% of the rights issue was taken up, with shares still trading below the rights issue price, at 385p, on 19 December.
Following the failed rights issue, shares fell by 13% to a 15-year low of 335p, but later recovered. They were trading at 529p on 11 January 2019, when some shareholders sought changes in Kier's leadership team. CEO Haydn Mursell subsequently resigned on 22 January (his successor, former Wates Group
Wates Group Ltd is one of the largest family owned construction, property services and development companies in the United Kingdom.
Wates Giving, the firm's charitable foundation, has donated over £10 million since 2008.
History
Edward Wates ...
CEO Andrew Davies, took up the post on 15 April 2019). In a trading statement Kier said the rights issue had helped reduce year-end net debt to £130m compared with £239m at the end of the previous year; average month-end net debt for the six months to 31 December 2018 was £370m, as compared with £410m for the previous six months. On 28 January 2019, Kier shares dropped 4% after reports it would sell its housing maintenance arm to cut debt, and the company was also reducing its waste management activities.
On 11 March 2019, Kier revised its average net debt for the six months to December 2018 by over £50m from £130m to £180.5m, raising average month-end net debt over the period from £370m to £430m. These revisions followed £10.3m in adjustments to the group's hedging activities, and £40.2m in relation to development assets held for resale. It also warned of £25m of additional costs on its Broadmoor Hospital
Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. It is the oldest of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth Hospital near Liverpool and Rampton Secure ...
redevelopment. Shares fell by 12% to 437p. (Kier's auditor PwC
PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...
was later investigated by the Financial Reporting Council
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is an independent regulator in the UK and Ireland based in London Wall in the City of London, responsible for regulating auditors, accountants and actuaries, and setting the UK's Corporate Governance and ...
over a £40m accounting error, and in June 2022 was fined £1.96m for failing to adequately challenge revenue and costs recognised by Kier's management on large, complex long-term construction contracts.)
On 20 March 2019, Kier's half-year results showed a pre-tax loss of £35.5m in the second half of 2018 with revenues flat at £2,064m. As well as the Broadmoor provision, Kier lost £26m on a disputed waste collection contract, while integrating the McNicholas business and Kier restructuring added a further £15.4m to costs. Kier also highlighted "volume pressures" in its highways, utilities and housing maintenance markets. In a 3 June 2019 profit warning, Kier said operating profits would be £25m lower than previously expected, causing its share price to fall over 40% – trading at about 150p, less than half the rights issue price, on 6 June. Shares fell by over a third on 14 June, closing at 130.8p, after reports that Kier was looking to sell its housebuilding division. On 17 June, Kier confirmed the housing division sale, plans to wind down its property business, and a planned exit of the facilities management and environmental services markets. CEO Andrew Davies's business review included 1,200 job cuts. Kier's share price fell 17% to 108p, a level not seen since the company's 1996 flotation, and its shares were subject to renewed 'shorting' with one analyst saying "the consensus in the market is that Kier will go bust"; on 15 July 2019, Kier shares were the most 'shorted' on the London Stock Exchange, with shares falling 12.7% to 72.95p. Amid concerns about Kier's future, the company was dropped from two major development schemes, in Leeds and London.
In a trading update on 1 August 2019, Kier said average month-end net debt for the 2019 financial year was £422 million, with revenues £100m lower, and, after significant interest in its housing division, said it had started the sale process (Guy Hands
Guy Hands (born 27 August 1959) is an English financier and investor. He is most notable as the founder and chairman of Terra Firma Capital Partners, one of the largest private equity firms in Europe. Hands also served as chairman of the UK musi ...
' Terra Firma Capital Partners
Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd. (TFCP) is a UK-based private equity firm. Financier Guy Hands founded the firm in 2002 through the spin-off of Nomura Principal Finance Group. The firm, which traces its roots to the formation of its predecess ...
was later reported to be among the bidders to acquire Kier Living). It also announced the appointment of a new CFO, Simon Kesterton (adept at "the disposal of non-core assets, the reduction of overheads and cost control"), with effect from 19 September 2019.
On 19 September 2019, Kier announced a £245m pre-tax loss on revenues of £4.5bn for the year to 30 June 2019, resulting from £341m in impairment costs and write-downs related to preparing businesses for sale, restructuring and loss-making contracts. The continuing restructuring had resulted in over 751 lay-offs, with a further 450 roles set to be axed. Group chairman Philip Cox stepped down, replaced by former Royal Mail FD Matthew Lester from 1 January 2020. In October 2019, Kier announced it was selling its Tempsford Hall
Tempsford Hall is a country house in Tempsford, Bedfordshire.
History
The original hall was built in 1769 for Sir Gillies Payne; it remained in the Payne family until 1824 when it was sold to Colonel William Stuart. Following a fire in November ...
headquarters in Bedfordshire to raise cash from its property assets. At the group's AGM in November 2019, shareholders objected to CEO Andrew Davies's £2.6m annual remuneration package and an associated long-term incentive scheme.
Half-year results announced on 5 March 2020 showed Kier made a pre-tax loss of £41.2m in the final six months of 2019 (marginally better than 2018's restated £45.3m loss); revenues were down 9% to £1,866m (2018: £2,053m). The cost-cutting process begun in 2018 had cut 1,200 jobs with another 50 set to leave by 30 June 2020. The sale of Kier Living was in progress, as was the process of closing Kier's Tempsford Hall head office, set to complete in June 2020. On 24 March 2020, as the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
became clear, Kier's board of directors took a three-month 20% pay cut, then, on 30 March, announced all 6,500 Kier employees would have their base salary reduced by between 7.5% and 25% for three months; it stepped up its cost reduction programme, bringing forward the closure of Tempsford Hall to 30 April (head office functions were transferred to Manchester in mid April), and paused the sale of its housebuilding business, Kier Living (though Terra Firma revived talks about buying Kier Living in December 2020). Kier also closed its Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
office with the loss of up to 40 jobs.
On 1 July 2020, Kier announced it was considering a further rights issue to raise cash as average net debt had risen due to COVID-19 impacts; average month-end net debt was up from £395m in December 2019 to £440m, and could rise to £485m. Further job cuts were also likely.
On 17 September 2020, Kier announced a £225.5m loss on the year to 30 June 2020, on revenues down 15% to £3,476m. The fall was partly due to COVID-19 impacts as well as 'challenging' market conditions throughout the year. Group headcount had been reduced by 1,700. Following this announcement, Kier shares sagged to 51.40p. In a January 2021 trading update, Kier said average monthly net debt remained around £436m; progress with the sale of Kier Living continued, with Kier hoping to receive around £100m for the business to help reduce debt; and Kier was aiming to make at least £105m in cost savings by the end of the financial year. Kier Living's sale came ahead of the company's (delayed) half-year results in April 2021. On 6 April, ''Sky News'' reported that Kier Living would be sold to Terra Firma, for £110m, subject to agreement at a meeting of Kier shareholders in early May, with completion of the sale by mid-June 2021. Kier Living was bought by a new company owned by Terra Firma founder Guy Hands, and was rebranded as Tilia Homes
Tilia Homes (formerly Kier Living, part of the Kier Group) is a British housebuilding company.
History
Following a failed rights issue in late 2018, financially troubled Kier Group began an extensive restructuring, debt reduction, cost-cutting a ...
. However, the sale would not significantly improve Kier's debt position, and analysts predicted an equity raise; on 21 April 2021, CEO Davies confirmed a planned equity raise to address its net debt position, unchanged at £436m. On 13 May 2021, Kier launched a £241m fund raise, with shares offered at 85p (a 17% discount to their then trading price).
2022: Return to profitability
Following a successful £241m capital raise and Kier Living's sale, in September 2021, Kier announced it had scraped back into profitability, reporting a pre-tax profit of £5.6m in the year to 30 June 2021 on turnover of £3,329m. In a January 2022 trading update, Kier said it had more than halved its net debt from around £436m to below £200m, and was on track to meet a medium term revenue target of £4-£4.5bn.
Also in January 2022, Kier was reported to be in advanced talks to acquire rival contractor Tilbury Douglas
Tilbury Douglas is a British construction business based in Reading, Berkshire.
The company was originally founded in 1884 as the London and Tilbury Lighterage Company Limited, and retained the Tilbury name until 2001. From 1991 it was known a ...
, the remaining contracting arm of the former Interserve
Interserve is a British construction and support services business based in Reading, Berkshire, which went into administration in 2019 and which is expected to be wound up in 2024. At that time, the group generated revenue of £2.2 billion and h ...
group, with speculation it might pay around £50m for the almost-£500m turnover business. However, Kier discontinued negotiations in March 2022.
In the November 2022 company AGM, 44% of Kier shareholders voted against the directors' pay report after CEO Andrew Davies’ pay package jumped by around 70%. His total pay rose to £2.245m for 2022 from £1.323m in 2021.
Operations
From August 2021, the UK company has had four regional divisions (London, South & Strategic Projects; Midlands & Eastern; Western & Wales; North & Scotland), plus Kier Places (housing maintenance and facilities management).
Major projects
Projects involving the company have included Highpoint I
Highpoint I was the first of two apartment blocks erected in the 1930s on one of the highest points in London, England, in Highgate. The architectural design was by the Georgian-British architect Berthold Lubetkin, the structural design by the ...
completed in 1935, the North Terminal at Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...
completed in 1988, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project
The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) is an ongoing water supply project with a hydropower component, developed in partnership between the governments of Lesotho and South Africa. It comprises a system of several large dams and tunnels thr ...
completed in 1998, Hairmyres Hospital
University Hospital Hairmyres is a district general hospital in the Hairmyres neighbourhood of East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The hospital serves one of the largest elderly populations in Scotland. It is managed by NHS Lanarkshire.
...
completed in 2001, High Speed 1
High Speed 1 (HS1), legally the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel.
It is part of a line carrying international passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe; ...
completed in 2007, the Castlepoint shopping centre
Castlepoint is a shopping centre in Strouden Park, Bournemouth, Dorset, in the United Kingdom, occupying a site containing around 40 shops, including major retailers such as Marks & Spencer, New Look, H&M, Asda, Sainsbury's, and B&Q. It is s ...
in Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
in 2003, the UK Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (initialism: UKSC or the acronym: SCOTUK) is the final court of appeal in the United Kingdom for all civil cases, and for criminal cases originating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. As the Unite ...
in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
completed in 2009 and Snowhill Phase 2 in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
completed in 2009.
Kier Group is also involved in HS2
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...
lots C2 and C3, working as part of a joint venture with Eiffage, due to complete in 2031.
Controversies
Kier was revealed as a subscriber to the UK's Consulting Association
The Consulting Association (TCA) was a controversial UK business (described by its key figure as "a non-profit making, unincorporated trade association"), based in Droitwich, which, from 1993 to 2009, maintained a database of British construction ...
, exposed in 2009 for operating an illegal construction industry blacklist
Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...
, and was among 14 issued with enforcement notices by the UK Information Commissioner's Office
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is a non-departmental public body which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). It is the independe ...
. Subsequently, Kier was among eight businesses involved in the 2014 launch of the Construction Workers Compensation Scheme, condemned as a "PR stunt" by the GMB union, and described by the Scottish Affairs Select Committee
The Scottish Affairs Select Committee is a Select committee (United Kingdom), select committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the e ...
as "an act of bad faith". In December 2017, Unite announced it had issued high court proceedings against four former chairmen of the Consulting Association, included Danny O'Sullivan of Kier, alleging breach of privacy, defamation and Data Protection Act offences. Unite also said it was taking action against 12 major contractors including Kier.
Following a devastating fire in the Glasgow School of Art
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and ...
's Mackintosh Building on 15 June 2018, the school terminated its £25 million restoration contract with Kier on 29 June 2018.
Kier was the main contractor in the failed DG One leisure centre in Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...
.
In October 2018, Kier was named as a 'poor payer' at a Parliamentary inquiry into small businesses, failing to pay 48% of invoices due within their agreed terms, leading some suppliers to refuse to work for the company. In November 2019, Kier and subsidiary McNicholas Construction Services were suspended from the Prompt Payment Code for "failing to honour a commitment to pay 95% of all supplier invoices within 60 days". Kier Construction was reinstated in December 2019; Kier Highways and Kier Infrastructure & Overseas were reinstated in June 2020; Kier Integrated Services was reinstated in August 2020, but McNicholas Construction Services remained suspended until December 2020.
In May 2022, Kier was criticised by councillors for quoting "unaffordable" prices for simple highway maintenance roadworks in Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
.
References
External links
Official site
Yahoo profile
{{Authority control
Construction and civil engineering companies of the United Kingdom
Companies based in Bedfordshire
Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1928
Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange
1928 establishments in England
British companies established in 1928