Mowlem

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British construction and civil engineering company

title: "Mowlem" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["british-companies-established-in-1822", "construction-and-civil-engineering-companies-of-the-united-kingdom", "companies-formerly-listed-on-the-london-stock-exchange", "1822-establishments-in-england", "defunct-construction-and-civil-engineering-companies", "british-companies-disestablished-in-2006", "construction-and-civil-engineering-companies-established-in-1822", "2006-disestablishments-in-england", "construction-and-civil-engineering-companies-disestablished-in-2006"] description: "British construction and civil engineering company" topic_path: "engineering" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mowlem" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British construction and civil engineering company ::

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

FieldValue
nameMowlem
logoMowlemlogo.jpg
fateAcquired
successorCarillion
foundation1822
locationLondon, England
industryConstruction
Business services
key_peopleJoe Darby, (Chairman)
Sir John Gains, (CEO)
num_employees25,600
::

| name = Mowlem | logo = Mowlemlogo.jpg | caption = | fate = Acquired | successor = Carillion | foundation = 1822 | location = London, England | industry = Construction Business services | key_people = Joe Darby, (Chairman) Sir John Gains, (CEO) | products = | num_employees = 25,600 | parent = | subsid =

Mowlem was one of the largest construction and civil engineering companies in the United Kingdom.

The company was established as John Mowlem and Co. by John Mowlem and initially worked on behalf of various local authorities across London. It expanded throughout the nineteenth century, taking on increasingly prestigious undertakings. The company received the first of several Royal Warrants in 1902. One year later, John Mowlem and Co. was briefly incorporated before being reorganised as a partnership once again; the business was long operated by successive generations of the Mowlem and Burt families, including George Burt, and Sir John Mowlem Burt. During 1924, the company went public on the London Stock Exchange.

Throughout the Second World War, the company worked on numerous contracts issued by the British government, including the construction of the Mulberry harbour units. After the end of the conflict, it continued to developed its network of regional contracting businesses, often via acquisitions. During 1971, the company expanded overseas via its stake in the Australian contractor Barclay Brothers, which it would later take whole ownership of. Mowlem entered the private house building sector during 1986 although, following a recession during the early 1990s, it sold on the housing division to the rival homebuilder Beazer in 1994.

The mid-2000s was a period of great change for Mowlem. It entered a period of financial difficulties in part attributed to several high-profile projects not going to plan. After losses totalling £73.4 million were recorded in 2005, its construction services operation was restructured and 300 jobs were lost at the company. During December 2005, it was announced that rival contracting company Carillion was acquiring Mowlem for £291 million. Use of the Mowlem name was discontinued soon thereafter.

However, in 2024, the Mowlem trademark was acquired by BHM Construction International UK Ltd from the administrators of Carillion. BHM Construction International UK Ltd subsequently started trading as Mowlem.

History

The firm was founded as John Mowlem and Co by the stonemason John Mowlem in London in 1822. The company undertook a variety of jobs across London throughout the mid-nineteenth century; early activities were centred around paving and roadworks at the behest of various local authorities. The business was able to expand considerably towards the end of the century, permitting it to perform prestigious activities, such as its involvement in preparatory works at Westminster Abbey for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. During 1902, the company received a Royal Warrant from the Prince of Wales in recognition of the quality of its workmanship; additional warrants would be received in 1910 and 1920.

By this time, John Mowlem and Co. had become a partnership that was operated by successive generations of the Mowlem and Burt families, including George Burt and John Mowlem Burt. George Mowlem Burt, a civil engineer and grandson of George Burt, has been credited with successfully guiding the company through the construction of various large scale public works, including the Admiralty Arch and the Port of London Authority Building, as well as various maintenance contracts on behalf of the Office of Works, amongst others.

During the Second World War, the company's reputation from its works during the interwar period led to it being awarded numerous contracts from the British government. One particularly high-profile project that it was a contractor upon was the construction of the Mulberry harbour units.{{cite book | last1 = Harding | first1 = Sir Harold | last2 = Davey | first2 = Amanda | authorlink = | title = It's Warmer Down Below: the autobiography of Sir Harold Harding, 1900–1986 | publisher = Tilia Publishing UK | year = 2015 | location = Sussex | pages = | url = http://www.tiliapublishinguk.co.uk/ourshop/cat_1035355-Books.html | doi = | id = | isbn = 978-0-9933965-0-2}} Other wartime construction projects included the Royal Ordnance Factory Swynnerton as well as numerous tunnels and runways; the associated contracts were collectively valued at £29 million.

Having developed itself as a long-standing national contractor, Mowlem developed a network of regional contracting businesses including Rattee and Kett of Cambridge (bought in 1926); E. Thomas of the west country (bought in 1965) and the formation of a northern region based in Leeds in 1970. This network was further augmented by the acquisition of Ernest Ireland of Bath during 1977, as well as the purchase of McTay Engineering of Bromborough together with its shipbuilding subsidiary McTay Marine during the late 1970s.

During 1971, the company expanded overseas via the purchase of a 40% shareholding in the Australian contractor Barclay Brothers, in which it later took total ownership of. The Australian business, re-branded Barclay Mowlem, expanded into all other Australian mainland states, except South Australia, as well into Asia. In 1982, the parent company was re-registered as John Mowlem and Co. plc.

During 1986, Mowlem acquired the scaffolding specialist SGB Group; its purchase of Unit Construction that same year gave the company a substantial presence in the private house building sector. Within two years, sales were up to an annual rate of 1,200 homes. However, a recession during the early 1990s led to Mowlem incurring losses in excess of £180m between 1991 and 1993, which placed pressure upon its banking covenants that compelled it to respond. During 1994, the company divested itself of its housing division via its sale to the rival homebuilder Beazer. The company also opted to sell off SGB during the late 1990s.

In 1984, a joint venture between Mowlem and GEC was awarded a contract to deliver the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), a fully automated transport system using light rail vehicles serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London. Over the next two decades, the DLR would prove to be quite lucrative for Mowlem. In 1993 Mowlem sold HSS Hire.

During the mid-2000s, Mowlem entered into a period of financial difficulties; in 2005 alone, it issued four separate profit warnings and recorded losses totalling £73.4 million. Several projects undertaken by the firm, such as the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth and the Bath Spa, had encountered considerable difficulties. Simon Vivian, the company's chief executive, ordered a financial review of its ongoing projects along with the restructuring of its construction services operation, splitting it into three divisions (Mowlem Building, Mowlem Infrastructure and Mowlem Engineering) and enacting roughly 300 job losses.

During December 2005, it was announced that rival construction company Carillion was set to acquire Mowlem in exchange for £291 million. The two companies were considered to be a good fit for one another, both having heavily involved themselves in various private finance initiative (PFI) schemes, taking on various responsibilities and functions traditionally performed by national governments. After the acquisition was completed, Mowlem ceased to exist as an entity, having been absorbed into Carillion's operations. Carillion's management publicly expressed the view that the Mowlem acquisition had led to some difficulties for the company.

The Mowlem trade mark was acquired by BHM Construction International UK Ltd in 2024 from the administrators of Carillion. BHM Construction International UK Ltd subsequently started trading as Mowlem.

Major projects

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Tower_42_looking_north_from_Bishopsgate_2011-05-04.jpg" caption="[[Tower 42]] built by Mowlem"] ::

Major projects undertaken by or involving Mowlem included:

References

Citations

Sources

  • Mowlem 1822–1972 – Mowlem Public Relations brochure, 1972

References

  1. "John Mowlem and Company Limited and Associated Companies".
  2. "Burt, Sir John Mowlem, Kt.". NMMC.
  3. The company was briefly incorporated during 1903, but reverted back to being a private company in 1908. During 1924, the company went [[Initial public offering|public]] on the [[London Stock Exchange]].''Mowlem 1822–1972'' – Mowlem Public Relations brochure, 1972, p. 3.
  4. Hartcup 2011, p. 94.
  5. (30 June 2005). "Mowlem carves up construction division". [[Manchester Evening News]].
  6. (1977). "Construction group John Mowlem". [[The Times]].
  7. (1 January 1980). "Mersey Notes". Liverpool Nautical Research Society.
  8. (20 October 1970). "New Firm". [[Papua New Guinea Post-Courier]].
  9. (28 March 2006). "Barclay Mowlem up for grabs". [[Australian Financial Review]].
  10. "Notes on Financial Times Actuaries Index 1986".
  11. Wellings, Fred. (2006). "Dictionary of British Housebuilders". Troubador.
  12. Stevenson, Tom. (14 July 1994). "John Mowlem pulls out of housebuilding". [[The Independent]].
  13. Hoare, Stephen. (27 November 1997). "The only way is up".
  14. (16 September 1999). "Mowlem sells SGB stake to focus on ‘core construction’". [[New Civil Engineer]].
  15. (October 1984). "World Report".
  16. Withers, Malcolm. (8 March 2001). "DLR helps Mowlem ride high at £25 million". [[Evening Standard]].
  17. [http://web.archive.org/web/20141124054710/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/bottom-line-mowlem-has-sold-its-best-recovery-hope-1454095.html Botton Line: Mowlem has sold its best recovery hope] ''[[The Independent]]'' 7 April 1993
  18. [http://web.archive.org/web/20220622042117/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12573597.mowlem-raises-52m-cash-in-hss-sell-off/ Mowlem raises £52m cash in HSS sell-off] ''[[The Herald (Glasgow). The Herald]]'' 8 April 1993
  19. (2 October 2003). "Mowlem in court over Bath Spa". Construction News.
  20. (14 October 2005). "Mowlem hands over delayed Spinnaker Tower". Construction News.
  21. (30 September 2005). "Mowlem’s bitter lessons".
  22. (7 December 2005). "Contracting giant Mowlem bought out".
  23. (7 December 2005). "Carillion agrees £291m price for Mowlem".
  24. (7 December 2005). "Construction firms agree takeover". [[BBC News]].
  25. (13 April 2006). "Mowlem has been in the building business for at least 360 years". Construction News.
  26. Monaghan, Angela. (20 April 2007). "Carillion didn’t buy a pup, it was a monster. How would it tame mowlem?".
  27. "History - Mowlem About Mowlem - Pioneering Global Civil Engineering and Sustainable Development".
  28. ''Mowlem 1822–1972'' – Mowlem Public Relations brochure, 1972, p. 4.
  29. Temple, Philip. (2008). "'Clerkenwell Road', in Survey of London: Volume 46, South and East Clerkenwell". British History Online.
  30. "History of the Woolwich Ferry". Royal Borough of Greenwich.
  31. ''Mowlem 1822–1972'' – Mowlem Public Relations brochure, 1972, p. 7.
  32. ''Mowlem 1822–1972'' – Mowlem Public Relations brochure, 1972, p. 6.
  33. "Sign in to Photo Forums". time-capsules.co.uk.
  34. ''Mowlem 1822–1972'' – Mowlem Public Relations brochure, 1972, p. 8.
  35. Smith, Denis. (2001). "Civil Engineering Heritage: London and the Thames Valley, p. 70.". Thomas Telford.
  36. "nuclear-sc-wl". industcards.com.
  37. Civil Engineering, [[American Society of Civil Engineers]], 1966, p. 59.
  38. ''Mowlem 1822–1972'' – Mowlem Public Relations brochure, 1972, p. 9.
  39. (4 February 2005). "Mowlem dives into the red". [[Evening Standard]].
  40. "About the Falklands". Ministry of Defence.
  41. "Docklands Light Railway (D.L.R.)". Exploring 20th Century London.
  42. (2003). "Past, Present and Future". Metrolink.
  43. "Thames House and Vauxhall Cross". [[National Audit Office (United Kingdom).
  44. (3 November 1994). "Mowlem for Albert". [[Construction News]].
  45. (9 December 2003). "Moving three hospitals is a truly major operation". The Journal.
  46. "Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth - Building #406". skyscrapernews.com.
  47. (1 September 2006). "Steel conversion for Twickenham". New Steel Construction.
  48. "Dublin Port Tunnel settlement". tunneltalk.com.
  49. (31 October 1995). "Mowlem sighs with relief on pounds 15.5m disposal". [[The Guardian]].

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british-companies-established-in-1822construction-and-civil-engineering-companies-of-the-united-kingdomcompanies-formerly-listed-on-the-london-stock-exchange1822-establishments-in-englanddefunct-construction-and-civil-engineering-companiesbritish-companies-disestablished-in-2006construction-and-civil-engineering-companies-established-in-18222006-disestablishments-in-englandconstruction-and-civil-engineering-companies-disestablished-in-2006