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May Gurney was founded in 1926 and was involved initially in water and sewerage, sea defence and flood protection works and works for local authorities on the road network. Later pile driving was added and these civil engineering activities formed the basis of the company's development over the next 30 years.
In the late 1950s, a policy of controlled growth resulted in the formation of the May Gurney Group and over the following 30 years the Group established itself as a major regional (primarily Norfolk-based) civil engineering company for projects including airfield runways, roadways, dredging, piling, bridge building, sewage treatment, road surfacing and surface dressing.
In 1989 the management team at the time undertook an MBO and, during the mid- nineties, May Gurney became involved in partnering contracts in the public sector for the first time.
By September 1999 most of the previous management team had retired and David Sterry, who had joined the business in 1996, became Group Chief Executive. He was joined by Richard Dean and during 2001 by Ian Findlater.
This new management team decided to focus their strategy on long-term partnerships with customers, and when a second MBO was completed in December 2001, May Gurney became one of the UK's largest privately owned integrated construction service providers.
The award of the Essex highways contract in June 2000 validated the company's focus on long- term contracts and emphasised the move away from capital works towards maintenance services.
The company acquired T. Cartledge Limited in July 2002, a specialist in the area of street lighting. In June 2004, May Gurney strengthened its market position still further via the acquisition of T.J. Brent, a specialist services provider to the utilities sector. T.J. Brent was a complementary acquisition, both in terms of geography (adding 18 regional offices) and culture (given its focus on long-term relationships based on partnered framework contracts). May Gurney also added additional specialist expertise
in railway signalling design and testing via the acquisition of the trade and assets of Hawthorns Project Management Limited in June 2005.
On 24 January 2006, May Gurney completed the disposal of its Ayton Products asphalt and aggregate operations at Longwater (Norwich) and its sand and gravel activities at Shropham for a total cash consideration of £8.45 million. This deal allowed the
company to focus still further on its strategy of providing integrated services rather than capital intensive works.
In May 2006, May Gurney announced its intention to seek a listing on
AIM of the London Stock Exchange. A little over a month later the share
offer was nearly two times oversubscribed, and the company's shares were
admitted to trading on AIM.
In March 2007, May Gurney acquired the Staffordshire based mechanical and
electrical engineering specialists, AC Chesters & Son Ltd (AC Chesters). The
move further enhances May Gurney's expertise in the water utilities sector,
one of the company's core markets. |
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