Morrison Construction

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UK construction company

title: "Morrison Construction" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1948-establishments-in-scotland", "british-companies-established-in-1948", "construction-and-civil-engineering-companies-of-the-united-kingdom", "construction-and-civil-engineering-companies-established-in-1948"] description: "UK construction company" topic_path: "engineering" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morrison_Construction" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary UK construction company ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

FieldValue
nameMorrison Construction
logoMorrison Construction logo.png
logo_captionLogo in use until 2006
typeSubsidiary
founderAlex Morrison
foundation1948
parentGalliford Try
locationEdinburgh, Scotland
homepage
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| name = Morrison Construction | logo = Morrison Construction logo.png | logo_caption=Logo in use until 2006 | logo_size = | type = Subsidiary | founder= Alex Morrison | foundation = 1948 | defunct = | parent=Galliford Try | location = Edinburgh, Scotland | homepage = Morrison Construction is a large Scottish based construction business, which was acquired by Galliford Try in 2006.

History

Morrison Construction was founded by Alex Morrison in Tain, Scotland in 1948. Although ownership of the company would pass through several hands during the 20th and 21st centuries, the Morrison family maintained a presence at the business for over 50 years. During 1974, an 80 percent stake, and thus control of the firm, was sold to Consolidated African Selection Trust.

During 1989, brothers Fraser and Gordon Morrison undertook a management buy-out of the firm, acquiring Morrison Construction from Charter Consolidated along with the businesses of Biggs Wall and Shand Construction in the process. One of this first moves was to return the group's headquarters to Edinburgh. Despite the hardships encountered by most of the British construction sector throughout the early 1990s recession, Morrison Construction reported strong growth during this period as well as being a profitable going concern.

In September 1995, Morrison Construction plc was floated on the London Stock Exchange, during which it was valued at almost £77 million while Fraser and Gordon Morrison each retained a 27.3 per cent shareholding. By this point, the firm was steadily shifting away from traditional competitive tender work in favour of other business avenues, including building and property development, civil engineering, utility and energy, housebuilding, and private finance initiative schemes.

In September 2000, the company was purchased by Anglian Water Group Plc in exchange for £235 million; its new parent company stated that the move would permit it to provide an all-round service of designing, constructing and managing facilities. However, over the following three years, a series of write-downs on the firm's value were enacted. During February 2003, Anglia Water Group launched legal action against Morrison's former chairman, Sir Fraser Morrison, along with other senior figures, alleging that they had misrepresented the firm's fiscal performance to an extent that amounted to fraud. This action cumulated in a confidential out of court settlement.

During early 2006, the business was split into three divisions, Morrison Construction, Morrison Facilities Services and Morrison Utility Services; the latter two businesses were retained for a time by Anglian Water Group, while the construction division was acquired by the rival construction firm Galliford Try for £42 million. Two years later, Morrison Utility Services was divested by Anglian Water Group, the management of which were seeking a return to being a pure utility company. Finally, in 2012, rival contractor Mears Group purchased Morrison Facilities Services from Anglian Water Group for £24 million.

Throughout the early 2010s, Galliford Try backed Morrison Construction's plans to expand its central Scotland building business. Various types of civil works were undertaken by the firm during this period; such projects included windfarms, schools, and flood defences.

Major projects

Major projects included the Kylesku Bridge, completed in 1982, the Dornoch Firth Bridge, completed in 1991, the Landshut Bridge, completed in 2014, Nucleus, the Nuclear and Caithness Archives, completed in 2017, and the Queensferry Crossing, completed in 2017.

References

References

  1. (11 August 2022). "Tain construction worker celebrates 55 years of service working as a joiner for Morrison Construction". The Northern Times.
  2. "Alexander Shand (Holdings)". Grace's Guide.
  3. (20 June 1991). "21Jun91 UK: MORRISON CONSTRUCTION GROUP’S PRETAX PROFITS FOR YEAR TO MARCH 1991 RISE 20% TO £5.7 MILLION".
  4. (16 December 1993). "16Dec93 UK: MORRISON AT £1.1M – MORRISON CONSTRUCTION PROFITS".
  5. Stevenson, Tom. (29 August 1995). "Morrison float to bolster builders".
  6. Shepherd, John. (27 September 1995). "Morrison heads for pounds 77m market debut".
  7. (29 August 1995). "Construction group places shares with institutions". Herald and Times.
  8. Fishlock, Bill. (27 June 1996). "Morrison thrives on non-traditional work".
  9. (28 March 1991). "29Mar91 UK: APPOINTMENTS AT MORRISON CONSTRUCTION GROUP".
  10. Clark, Andrew. (25 August 2000). "Anglian Water pays £262m for Morrison". The Guardian.
  11. (28 December 2000). "Anglian Water Buys Margin Growth with Morrison".
  12. (4 February 2003). "Fraud allegations over Morrison deal". BBC News.
  13. (5 February 2003). "AWG sues Morrison Chiefs over 'misrepresentation'".
  14. (6 February 2006). "AWG settles Morrison construction row".
  15. (2 March 2006). "AWG sells building arm to Galliford".
  16. (10 March 2006). "Galliford Try snaps up Morrison".
  17. (8 March 2008). "AWG sells Morrison utility services division". Herald and Times.
  18. Duxbury, Nick. (8 November 2012). "Contractor buys troubled rival for £24 million".
  19. (8 November 2012). "Morrison buy out is 'biggest move' in Mears' history". Inside Housing.
  20. (20 March 2013). "Morrison Construction plans expansion".
  21. Lane, Michael. (18 February 2010). "Morrison Construction wins £6.7m of civils work".
  22. Fitzpatrick, Tom. (3 September 2012). "Morrison Construction seals £28m flood defence deal".
  23. Pitcher, Greg. (6 January 2011). "Morrison Construction scoops £57m Orkney Islands schools deal".
  24. Stears, H.S.. (January 1985). "The Kylesku Bridge - Design and Construction". The Journal of the Institution of Highways and Transportation & HTTA.
  25. "The Dornoch Firth Bridge". Ross and Cromarty Heritage.
  26. (March–April 2014). "A bridge to the future".
  27. "NDA archive: Nucleus (the Nuclear and Caithness Archives)". British Government.
  28. (30 November 2009). "Two consortiums invited to bid for Forth Crossing contract". New Civil Engineer.

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1948-establishments-in-scotlandbritish-companies-established-in-1948construction-and-civil-engineering-companies-of-the-united-kingdomconstruction-and-civil-engineering-companies-established-in-1948