Willmott Dixon Group is one the largest privately-owned construction, housing and property companies, according to the 2010 Sunday Times Top Track 100 list of private companies. In the same list, the company recorded the best revenue growth for that year after it saw a 69 per cent jump in sales from £592 million to £999 million in 2009. It maintained income but improved profit in the following year.

The company is committed to sustainable development, with Jonathon Porritt a non-executive director and a target to be a carbon neutral business that sends no waste to landfill by 2012. It came 6th in the 2010 Sunday Times Best Green Companies list and also won Building magazine’s WRAP award for sustainable construction.

The CEO of its Capital Works division, John Frankiewicz, is a board member of the UK Green Building Council, which campaigns for a low carbon built environment.

History

Founded in 1852 by John Willmott, Willmott Dixon has grown to become one of the country's most recognisable brands for the built environment.

Group Chief Executive Rick Willmott is the fifth generation of the Willmott family to lead the business.

The company's growth in 2009 included the re-acquisition of social housing business Inspace, which had been demerged in 2005.

Type of work

The company has three main divisions: capital works, regeneration and support services.

In capital works, Willmott Dixon works with national and local government, plus private sector clients, delivering varied public sector construction projects in education, justice, retail, commercial development, health and social housing.

In regeneration, Willmott Dixon develops mixed-tenure projects, often in joint venture with developers, local authorities and RSLs.

In support services, Willmott Dixon delivers a range of planned, preventative and responsive care to property, which includes maintaining 110,000 council homes

Council house

A council house, otherwise known as a local authority house, is a form of public or social housing. The term is used primarily in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Council houses were built and operated by local councils to supply uncrowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at...

 across the UK and providing services to a number of commercial brands.

Recently, Willmott Dixon has campaigned to raise awareness of key issues like avoiding procurement waste, using whole life costs, the transition to a low carbon economy and clients making the most of a reduced capital spend.

This has come through a series of position papers which include BSF Procurement, a low carbon built environment, whole life cost and reduced capital spend.

Major projects

Projects involving Willmott Dixon include:

• Denham Garden Village
• Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
• Epsom Downs Race Course
• City Academy, Hackney
• Wolverton Park regeneration
• Digital Media Centre in Leicester
• Enlarging HMP Nottingham

Awards

The company won the following awards in 2010:

• 6th in the 2010 Sunday Times Best Green Companies list

• 56th in the 2010 Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For

• Inside Housing's Sustainable Housing Awards

WINNER: Sustainable Social Housing Contractor of the Year

• Construction Manager of the Year

GOLD MEDAL: Mark Thornhill: Housing above £12m category for Denham Garden Village

GOLD MEDAL: Lee Bushell: New build up to £4m category for Kendrick Girls School sixth form college

GOLD MEDAL: Andy Miles: New build £4-6m category for Rogiet Primary School in Wales

• Ealing Civic Building Awards 2010

WINNER: John Perryn Primary S chool

2nd PLACE: Jubilee Gardens Health Centre

3rd PLACE: Northolt Leisure Centre

• Building Sustainability awards

Sustainability Leader of the year - David Adams, Willmott Dixon’s head of retrofit

• East Midlands Centre for Constructing the Built Environment awards

WINNER: Skills and Training

Highly commended: Project of the year for HMP Nottingham

Highly Commended: Environmental Sustainability

• British Council for School Environments awards

WINNER: School contractor of the year

WINNER: Inspiring design award for Forest Way School

WINNER: Inspiring design award for City Academy, Hackney

• London Constructing Excellence

WINNER: City Academy Hackney for Collaborative Working

• Sustainability West Midlands

George Martin named as one of the Top 50 Green Leaders in the Midlands

• Housing Design Awards

Project Winner: The Triangle development, Swindon

• Business in the Community

Silver award

• Building Magazine Awards

WINNER: WRAP Award for Sustainable Construction

• Women in Construction Awards

WINNER: Leila Williams for Best New Starter of the year over 25

WINNER: Sharon Ayles for Breakthrough in Culture

In 2011, the company won Building magazine

Building (magazine)

Building is one of the United Kingdom’s oldest business-to-business magazines, launched as The Builder in 1843 by Joseph Aloysius Hansom – architect of Birmingham Town Hall and designer of the Hansom Cab. The journal was renamed Building in 1966 as it is still known today. Building is the only UK...

's Major Contractor of the Year award. The panel made particular reference to Willmott Dixon's commitment to sustainability, partnering to meet the government’s “more for less” agenda, and good reputation for investing in its workforce.