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Birse Group
Company typePrivate
IndustryConstruction and civil engineering
Founded1970
FounderPeter Birse
Defunct2014
HeadquartersTadcaster, England
Area served
United Kingdom
ProductsConstruction projects
Number of employees
786
ParentBalfour Beatty
Websitewww.birsecl.co.uk

Birse Group was a construction and civil engineering company based in North Yorkshire, England. It was acquired by Balfour Beatty in 2006 who retired the brand in 2014.

History

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The company was founded by Peter Birse as the Birse Group in Doncaster in 1970.[1] It was floated on the stock market during 1989;[2] one of the results of which being that the German civil engineering company Bilfinger Berger acquired a 15% shareholding in the firm.[3] Peter Birse also held a considerable personal stake (at one point amounting to 14.1%) in the business, which he largely retained through to the 21st century.[2]

Birse Group routinely worked with various state-owned bodies. In 1990, it was awarded a contract to extend HM Prison Leeds,[4] as was a separate arrangement with the Property Services Agency valued at £3 million;[5] the company also commenced construction of the Leighton Linsdale Bypass on behalf of Bedfordshire County Council under a £22 million project.[6] By the end of that year, an almost 50 per cent rise in pre-tax profits was anticipated for 1990-91.[7]

The company would often enter into consortiums for some of its undertakings, such as with Purac to fulfil a £14.7 million design and build contract for a new water treatment plant for Yorkshire Water.[8][9] Road construction was a key area for the company during the early 1990s;[10][11] however, despite being awarded multiple such contracts valued in the tens of millions that year, 1993 was a fiscally unsatisfactory year for Birse Group.[12]

During 1996, Birse Rail was setup as a subsidiary of Birse Group for the purpose of providing high quality construction services to Britain's recently privatised railways.[13] It worked with the national rail infrastructure company Network Rail, as well as other organisation active in the railway sector, on various civil engineering works, including one-off tendered design and build projects (for new stations and depot refurbishments), as well as longer term schemes delivered through long term framework contracts and the delivery of complex route works.[13][14][15]

In mid-1996, the company recorded a profit of £1.12 million, the first such profit returned in five years.[16] During July 1999, it was announced that Peter Birse would step aside from the day-to-day operations of the company.[17]

Birse Group operated an off-the-shelf service for larger buildings; while initially targeted at football stadiums, this service was expanded to cover both business and retail units during 2002.[18] That same year, the company took a £5.5 million write-off on a £27.5 million project to build Walkers Stadium for Leicester City F.C. after the latter declared bankruptcy.[19]

During February 2002, following a dispute over payment, rival construction company Bovis took over a £21 million contract for Citibank that had previously been awarded to Birse Group.[20] That same year, the company's construction arm was viewed as having underperformed.[21]

Birse announced that it planned to reduce the size of building division due to persistent losses totaling £30m over the previous five year period.[22] In December 2005, the company recorded a £10 million loss.[23]

During June 2006, Birse Group was acquired by rival construction company Balfour Beatty in exchange for £32 million.[1][24][25] Less than a year after the acquisition, Peter Birse stood down from his roles with the company amid a boardroom reshuffle.[2] Initially operated as a subsidiary, Birse Group was fully integrated into Balfour Beatty and all use of the brand ceased in January 2014.[1]

Birse Group Services in June 2008

Notable projects

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Notable projects included:

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Balfour Beatty drops famous Mansell and Birse brands". Construction Enquirer. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Birse board shake-up as founder retires". Manchester Evening News. 17 February 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  3. ^ Whiteside, R. M.; Wilson, A.; Blackburn, S.; Hörnig, S. E.; Wilson, C. P. (6 December 2012). Major Companies of Europe 1993/94: Volume 2 Major Companies of the United Kingdom. Springer. p. 36. ISBN 978-1853338878.
  4. ^ "04May90 UK: PETER BIRSE WINS CONTRACT TO EXTEND ARMLEY PRISON IN LEEDS". constructionnews.co.uk. 3 May 1990.
  5. ^ "02Mar90 UK: NUTTALL, BIRSE AND MOWLEM WIN PSA CONTRACTS". constructionnews.co.uk. 1 March 1990.
  6. ^ "18May90 UK: BIRSE CONSTRUCTION BEGINS WORK ON LEIGHTON LINSDALE BYPASS". constructionnews.co.uk. 17 May 1990.
  7. ^ "20Jul90 UK: 'DANGEROUS' BIRSE SETS SEAL ON GLITTERING YEAR". constructionnews.co.uk. 19 July 1990.
  8. ^ "02Apr92 UK: CONSORTIUM INCLUDING PURAC AND BIRSE WINS £14.7M CONTRACT FOR NEW WATER TREATMENT PLANT AT HOLMBRIDGE". constructionnews.co.uk. 2 April 1992.
  9. ^ "16Jul92 UK: BIRSE AND OZOTECH WIN CONTRACTS FOR OSWESTRY WATER TREATMENT PLANT FROM NORTH WEST WATER". constructionnews.co.uk. 16 July 1992.
  10. ^ "08Apr93 UK: BIRSE WIDENS M62 – DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT CONTRACT". constructionnews.co.uk. 8 April 1993.
  11. ^ "22Jul93 UK: BIRSE BEATS LOG JAM WITH BYPASS TRIUMPH – MID GLAMORGAN". constructionnews.co.uk. 22 July 1993.
  12. ^ "15Jul93 UK: CONSTRUCTION DEPLETES BIRSE – YEAR'S LOSS". constructionnews.co.uk. 15 July 1993.
  13. ^ a b "Birse Rail". theconstructionindex.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Birse Metro celebrates handover of the new East London Line Phase 2". globalrailwayreview.com. 1 March 2012.
  15. ^ Hunt, Michael (18 February 2010). "Stobart starts work on railway station". placenorthwest.co.uk.
  16. ^ "Birse returns first profit for five years". constructionnews.co.uk. 11 July 1996.
  17. ^ FISHLOCK, BILL (22 July 1999). "Former management consultant appointed as group shifts to higher- margin work Birse chief hands over reins in strategy move". constructionnews.co.uk.
  18. ^ "Birse's stadia offer a ray of hope". constructionnews.co.uk. 11 April 2002.
  19. ^ a b Gardiner, Joey; Leftly, Mark (25 October 2002). "Birse writes off £5.5m as Leicester City goes broke".
  20. ^ BARRY, SEAN (28 February 2002). "Bovis takes on Birse job". constructionnews.co.uk.
  21. ^ "Birse's building arm fails to perform". constructionnews.co.uk. 11 July 2002.
  22. ^ Clark, Phil (16 July 2004). "Birse to halve building division". building.co.uk.
  23. ^ "Birse hit by £10m loss". building.co.uk. 16 December 2005.
  24. ^ "Balfour Beatty makes £32M cash takeover bid for Birse". New Civil Engineer. 1 June 2006.
  25. ^ "Industry News in Brief". Railway Gazette International. 1 September 2006.
  26. ^ "When Scunthorpe United achieved one of their most important victories - without kicking a ball". Grimsby Live. 12 May 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  27. ^ Hobhouse, Hermione (1994). "'Modern Docklands: Gazetteer of modern non-housing developments', in Survey of London: Volumes 43 and 44, Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs". London, UK: British History Online. pp. 707–724. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  28. ^ "Bolton Wanderers Football & Athletic Co Ltd. New Stadium". Bradshaw Gass & Hope. Bradshaw Gass & Hope, LLP. 2014. Archived from the original on 5 September 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  29. ^ a b "Birse to build Hull stadium". Leisure Opportunities. 25 September 2001. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  30. ^ "Building a new BBC". BBC. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
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