in London, which was completed in 1986.
1885–2011 Bovis Construction was founded as C. W. Bovis & Co by Charles Bovis in
London in 1885. In 1908 it was acquired by
Samuel Joseph and his cousin, Sidney Gluckstein. Bovis was one of the few construction companies to go public in the 1920s, during which time it developed an extensive retail clientele, by far the most important and long lasting of which was
Marks & Spencer. Central to the relationship with Marks & Spencer was the pioneering Bovis System contract, designed to bring the interests of the contractor and client together. The Bovis System paid the builder the prime cost of the work plus an agreed fee to cover overheads and profit. The client received any savings during construction instead of the contractor. During
World War II, Bovis' activities were dominated by the British war efforts; amongst other projects, it constructed the
munitions factory at
Swynnerton and worked on
Mulberry harbour units. At the end of the war, Bovis resumed its work in the private sector. In the early 1950s, the company moved into house construction. Following the acquisition of Frank Sanderson's business in 1967,
Bovis Homes expanded rapidly and became one of the largest housebuilders by the early 1970s. Frank Sanderson was to change radically the future of Bovis. He was appointed managing director of Bovis Holdings in January 1970, and chairman and chief executive in August 1972. After a number of acquisitions within the housing sector, Sanderson attempted to obtain control of
P&O by means of a
reverse takeover. An initial agreement was followed by a boardroom and
shareholder rebellion at P&O which led to the merger effort failing in late 1972. Boardroom dissension broke out at Bovis, forcing Sanderson out in September 1973. As a part of these change, it acquired the United States contractor McDevitt & Street in September 1990. Further acquisitions occurred during the 1990s. The company also pursued opportunities in the Asian market, becoming one of only five international contractors licensed to work in
South Korea. In 1997,
Bovis Homes was
spun off and
floated on the
London Stock Exchange. Around this time, Bovis was often regarded as the largest construction company in Britain, although this position was hotly contested by competing firms. One such competitor was
Mace, which was founded and initially led by a former Bovis employee. After discussing a sale to
Hochtief and selling via a
stock exchange listing, in October 1999 a £285 million offer from
Lendlease was accepted. Bovis merged with
Civil & Civic and was rebranded as
Bovis Lend Lease. Senior figures, including Lampl, retained key positions within the business. In 2011, Bovis was rebranded
Lendlease Project Management & Construction.
2025–present In March 2025, the brand was revived by Atlas Holdings after it purchased Lendlease's UK construction business. Prior to the Atlas acquisition, Lendlease Construction (Europe) Limited had incurred a £16m loss on revenue of £471m in the year to 30 June 2024. CEO David Cadiot said profit was adversely impacted by provisions made against historic contracts. The business had a pipeline of secured and preferred bidder projects of £2.8 billion at the year end, including a commercial building in
Manchester for
Landsec and
Crystal Palace Football Club's new stand at
Selhurst Park. In the nine months to 31 March 2025, Bovis posted a £56m pre-tax profit on revenue of £291m. The company's improved financial position was due to one-off accounting gains linked to the sale to Atlas. Headcount stood at 830 staff, down from 930. ==Major projects==