Last updated April 9th 2022
Bouygues UK
Bouygues UK is a major subsidiary of the giant French construction, media and telecoms conglomerate Bouygues with a turnover of around £420 million.
Bouygues UK’s core business involves construction, development and regneration projects across the UK. The company is part of the French-owned group Bouygues Construction, which has total UK sales of over £1.5 billion. Key sectors where it works include residential, education, healthcare, student accommodation, offices and commercial, mixed use regeneration and hotels. The company employs around 1400 people.
Acquisitions in recent years have included Thomas Vale Group, a Midlands construction business, Warings, the Leadbitter Group (including Denne) and ETDE a facilities management business. It also operates a development business Linkcity. In summer 2018, Rob Bradley was appointed as the company”s new chief executive officer, following the resignation of Lionel Christolomme.
In early 2021, John Boughton, former deputy managing director at Willmott Dixon in Wales and the South West, joined Bouygues UK as regional managing director for Wales and the South West; a key area for the group.
Bouygue UK”s latest annual report, published in autumn 2021, said it had continued bidding during the pandemic and it had been successful in winning new work to add to its existing order book.
Financials
To view the financials for Bouygues (U.K.) Ltd, visit Companies House and use Company ID 03460378.
The latest results from the redevelopment and construction business reflect an improved performance at Bouygues UK. Turnover rose to £420.3 million in the year to end-December 2020, from £399.5 million previously although operating profits were impacted by the pandemic, falling to £1.3 million from £2.06 million. Pre-tax profits fell to £585,000 from £2.64 million. However, the balance sheet showed cash & equivalents of £228.6 million, up from £198.9 million.
Construction
The firm”s construction division provides an integrated programme, from funding to facilities management, across a wide range of sectors and operates across four UK regions, London, Western, Central and South East. In the private sector, the firm works across the commercial, leisure and luxury residential markets and in the public sector (including PPPs), mainly in healthcare and education.
Bouygues UK has recently taken on a new project director – Peter Sharpe, who joined from Laing O’Rourke and Balfour Beatty – to lead the build on zone one of the £87 million Pentre Awel development in Llanelli, the largest regeneration project in south west Wales. The scheme involves life science and business innovation space, community healthcare and modern leisure facilities at the 83-acre Delta Lakes site.
In the education sector, Bouygues UK handed over the sbarc|spark building at Cardiff University in spring 2022, the largest innovation facility of its kind in Wales, with 12,000m sq of floor space across six storeys with commercial units and lab spaces and the first completed on the university’s innovation campus. Bouygues UK is staying on site at the adjacent Translational Research Hub building.
Meanwhile in London, Bouygues UK recently broke ground on a major affordable homes project at Ebury Bridge on the first phase of a project to build 781 new homes. Phase one involves 226 new home, of which two thirds will be affordable.
In the commercial sector, Bouygues UK is currently working on a major office development in Swansea at 71/72 The Kingsway for a building with capacity for 600 staff on the site of a former nightclub.
Meanwhil at Bouygue UK’s University College London Hospital project, the Prince of Wales recently opened the Grafton Way Building, a 13-storey structure with a basement and which houses one of the largest centres for the treatment of blood disorders in Europe. Elsewhere in the health sector, in early 2021 Bouygues UK was accepted onto the NHS Shared Business Services framework; an initiative to improve procurement in the public sector.
Other key recent projects where Bouygues UK has worked include a new £300m home for the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory. Bouygues UK also completed the construction of Cambridge’s biggest office complex: a new hq for Cambridge Assessment, known as The Triangle over some 360,000 sq ft.
In the civils sector, Bouygues Travaux Publics has a €1.7 billion contract (Bouygues”s share) in a jv with Laing O” Rourke to construct buildings that will house the two EPR nuclear reactors. Bouygues Energies & Services has the design and build contract for the backup plant at Hinkley Point C.
In spring 2020, Bouygues Travaux Publics confirmed that its Align joint venture (with Sir Robert McAlpine and VolkerFitzpatrck) will construct the C1 stage of HS2, a 22-km stretch north-west of London that includes the 3.4-kilometre Colne Valley Viaduct and the two 15.75-km Chilterns Tunnels. It will be worth €1.8 billion (Bouygues Travaux Publics’ share: €1.1 billion) with more than 1,500 people on site at the peak and the contract will run for 66 months.
Development
Bouygues UK”s development arm, Linkcity, has a track record of developing major urban regeneration schemes. It works across the public and private sectors, particularly on mixed-use developments, regeneration schemes, residential and student accommodation.
In summer 2020, Linkcity, signed agreements with multiple partners for the £240m third phase of Hallsville Quarter, a major regeneration scheme with the London Borough of Newham at Canning Town. It involves 278 private rental homes, forward-funded by Grainger across two blocks; and 143 shared ownership with 199 affordable homes. It also involves around 88,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space which Linkcity will retain.
Housing
Operating across three regions, Central, London and the South East, the group”s housing unit focuses on residential and mixed tenure developments, care and extra care facilities and student accommodation. Schemes range from large and complex mixed-use city centre developments to small rural housing projects.
In early 2021, Bouygues UK was chosen by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to deliver an £8.4 contract at Locksley D involving 17 affordable housing units in what will be the fourth phase of a £37.1m project to deliver 94 council homes.
Glenigan Data
Data from Glenigan shows Bouygues UK ranked as the 38th largest UK contractor in the year to March 2022 with 15 major deals worth a total of £316.5 million; split between civils (£110.5 million) and building work (£206 million). Major recent contract wins at Bouguyes UK highlighted in Glenigan data include an appointment as main contractor on an £84 million scheme to build 230 homes for Catalyst Housing Group at Wornington Green Estate in Kensington & Chelsea (Project ID: 20473733).
Conclusion: Winning work through broad range of skills
Bouygues UK is not alone in facing project delays linked to Brexit and Covid and a need to be more selective in recent years. Whilst profits have taken a knock, the firm seems to be maintaining a healthy order book, helped by its strength in the health and education sectors. The company is also developing promising positions in the innovation and student accomodation sectors and should be able to continue to use its broad range of skills and sector specialisms – and by working with other sister firms within the wider Bouygues group – to win more work on mixed-use schemes. The group is also taking advantage of the growing UK infrastructure market, highlighted by its significant workload at Hinkley Point C and on HS2.
Winning work with Bouygues UK
Bouygues UK aims to create lasting relationships with UK sub-contractors, consultants and suppliers who provide best-in-class and best value products and services. Reinforcing the supply chain is seen as a way to enhance the services the firm offers and Bouygues UK holds ‘meet the buyer’ business events in the regions where it works.
Companies interested in working with the group are invited to submit a pre-qualification form, with criteria developed through ISO 9001, available on the group’s website at www.bouygues-uk.com
It also invites would-be suppliers to have an informal chat before completing the form by contacting it at purchasing@bouygues-uk.com
Tel: 0207 401 0020
Key contacts:
Andrew Rainbow, Head of Procurement and Supply Chain at Bouygues UK.
Email andrew.rainbow@bouygues-uk.com
Tel 020 7401 0020
Amelle Mestari, Director Of Procurement, Bouygues Energies & Services (UK)
Email amelle.mestari@bouygues-uk.com
Tel 020 7401 0020