page_title: Redrow plc
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Redrow plc / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Redrow development in Horsforth
context_page_description: Redrow plc is one of the largest British housebuilders with a network of 15 operational divisions across the UK. It is based in Flintshire and employs 2,300 people. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is currently a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
context_section_description: Steve Morgan had been working as a site agent for Wellington Civil Engineering when, in 1974, the parent company decided it was to be closed. Morgan offered to take over the contract, borrowed £5,000 from his father, and completed the contract at a profit. Further work was carried out for Wellington and, still aged only 21, Morgan registered his new company – Redrow. Redrow gradually expanded through small civil engineering work and, with Simon Macbryde, formed a separate building company; these were later merged to leave Macbryde with 17 percent of the enlarged company. Geographically, Redrow moved from its north Wales base into Cheshire and in the early 1980s made significant construction acquisitions in Manchester and the Wirral.
  Redrow's entry into housebuilding came in 1982 and by 1985 it had grown sufficiently to separate it out from the construction business. A small acquisition in Kent provided the base for a south-east housing operation; a midlands housing subsidiary was formed in 1986 and in 1987 Redrow bought Whelmar Lancashire, one of the five housing subsidiaries then being sold by Christian Salvesen. By now, Redrow was selling over 1,000 houses a year. Further expansion took Redrow into the south-west, south Wales and Yorkshire but Redrow had pulled out of the vulnerable south-east market just ahead of the 1989 property collapse. Redrow returned to the south-east in 1993 as the housing recession neared its end, buying Costain Homes from the troubled Costain Group; this took Redrow's housing sales up to 2,000 a year.
  The construction business was sold and with Redrow now purely a development business the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1994.  Redrow grew steadily through the rest of the decade reaching sales of 3,000 a year. In 2000 Steve Morgan announced his intention to leave the company, retaining only a 14 percent stake in the company. Paul Pedley, who had joined Redrow as finance director in 1995, took over as managing director. In 2006 Redrow saw its 50,000th customer. In 2009, Steve Morgan returned to Redrow as Executive Chairman, having increased his shareholding to just under 30 percent.
  Following his return, Morgan reopened operating divisions in the north west, Yorkshire and south midlands that had been closed during the recent recession. A year later Redrow launched its Heritage Collection  followed by the Regent Collection  and more modern Abode Collection.
  In February 2017 Redrow acquired Radleigh Homes in Derby, an established company which delivered 200 new homes in 2016.  It has since been re-branded to Redrow Homes (East Midlands).
  In September 2017, it was announced that Morgan would "ease back" to a non-executive chairman role with Redrow. 
  In July 2018, prompted by growth in London and the southern counties, Redrow announced the opening of its 15th division, Thames Valley, based in Oxfordshire.
  On 18 October 2018 Redrow announced its 100,000th customer and released statistics on the number of direct jobs it had created (36,000), including 2,000 trainees, and a further 200,000 indirect employees.
  On 7 November 2018, it was announced that Steve Morgan would retire from the company in March 2019 with John Tutte taking over as executive chairman and Matthew Pratt as chief operating officer.
  Like most housebuilders, Redrow temporarily closed most of its sites during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom during early 2020. The site closures pushed house sales down by a third. In a trading update, Redrow said it had completed 4,032 homes up to 28 June 2020, compared to 6,443 in 2019. Turnover was expected to be £1.34bn against £2.11bn in 2019.
caption: A Redrow development in Horsforth, West Yorkshire
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