The Mitchell Era
During 1913, George Wimpey died at the age of 58; his family put the business up for sale six years later. Godfrey Mitchell, who had served in the Royal Engineers during the First World War, purchased the firm and decided to retain the Wimpey name.[3] Mitchell would serve as George Wimpey's executive chairman for over 50 years and prove to be decisive in the company's fortunes during this time.[4][5]
In the interwar period, Mitchell built up a fleet of steamrollers and took contracts for both public and private paving jobs, a considerable proportion of this work coming from new housing estates. Mitchell observed that the company could make more money as a developer than just as a contractor; having first tested this with his own money, Mitchell initiated the company's first residential development, the Greenford Park Estate, during 1928.[6] By 1930, Wimpey was building around five hundred houses per year, rising to a peak of 1,370 during 1934.[4]
However, the company's private housebuilding activities were abruptly ceased at the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, throughout which Wimpey concentrated on defence-related undertakings. Accordingly, it built 93 facilities, ranging from aerodromes and factories to army camps. By the end of the conflict, it had become one of the country's largest contractors.[7][8]
In the immediate post war period, building controls prevented any substantial return to private housebuilding and Wimpey turned instead to the local authority market and, by the early 1950s, Wimpey was building 18,000 houses per year on behalf of various local authorities. Wimpey was pre-eminent in the use of no-fines concrete construction (concrete made without sand) in both high and low rise housing; this technique was particularly valuable amid a shortage of bricks and several other standard building materials. It was also expanding its building and civil engineering divisions, particularly overseas where it became one of the larger international contractors. The end of building controls in 1954 allowed Wimpey to re-enter the private housing market. It did so in a substantial way through its regional structure, becoming the country's first national housebuilder; by 1972, Wimpey was building private houses at an annual rate of 12,500, some three times the rate of its nearest competitor.[7][9] Although Wimpey experienced rising profits in the 1970s, which was largely attributed to its Middle East contracting, the group was beginning to lose direction. While Godfrey Mitchell retired as Chairman in 1973, he remained a director and a dominant figure in the company's operations until his eventual retirement from the Board in 1981 following his 90th birthday. Operational control was diffused between four joint managing directors, and the regions rather than the centre were the dominant force. Unlike some of the newer housebuilders, Wimpey's housing was mixed in operationally with its construction business. Volumes declined and, by the end of the 1980s, private housing sales were down to around 5,000 houses per year.[7]
Acquisitions and Merger
The 1990s was a difficult period for the business, particularly in light of the economic consequences of the early 1990s recession; both the housebuilding and civil engineering sectors were hit heavily, leading to a loss of £112 million being recorded in 1992, although profitability did quickly recover.[10] A reorganisation of Wimpey's structure, centred around key business areas, rather than geographic regions, was conducted. Furthermore, a few non-core businesses, such as its waste management activities, were divested while various properties held by the firm were written down or sold, decreasing the size of the group somewhat.[10]
Despite the company's initial attempts to change this trend, private housing had remained contractor dominated by this time. A major turning point came in November 1995 when the Board announced a radical solution: Wimpey was to transfer its construction and minerals divisions to Tarmac in return for the latter's housing division (largely McLean Homes). Thereafter, Wimpey was once again selling 12,000 private houses per year.[11][12]
