The petrol station and commercial space above this building was built by Haymills and was the first part of what became known as Empire House – our HQ for 60 years.
Haymills built Handley Page Bombers during World War 1 in the Golders Green workshops.
War Cabinet Rooms were refurbished by Haymills to create the original wartime appearance. The picture shows Winston Churchill’s bedroom and office.
Haymills History
Haymills was formed in 1911 and its early activities were concerned with the purchase and development of land along the old London Metropolitan Railway. In 1936 the contracting arm was formed to cope with the building projects associated with the speculative development undertaken.
The name Haymills derives from an amalgam of two original employees - the first syllable of the Company Secretary (a Mr Haygate) and the name of a foreman-painter called Myhill - eventually the organisation decided upon "Haymills", which has been used ever since.
Find below a brief whistle-stop history tour of Haymills, highlighting some of the experiences over the years that have made us into the Company you see today.
The First Word War saw all construction activity suspended and the Company became primarily involved in building Handley Page bombers in its Golder's Green workshops. As with all businesses during these difficult times, everyone pulled together and to this end the determination to succeed was rewarded during the 1920's and ‘30's when Haymills emerged as house builders of quality and character. Haymills incidentally built the first estate in the country at Golder's Manor with a garage or garage space to every house - revealing the pioneering spirit still within us.
World War Two again affected the industry and this time Haymills was directed by the Government to work on Suffolk airfields used by the US Airforce for daylight missions to France and Germany. After the War, Haymills stayed in East Anglia, mainly to carry out maintenance and minor new works on RAF bases across the region. This relationship with the MoD consolidated the organisation for future expansion and nowadays we have a very successful Property Services (MTC) business that can be attributed to these humble yet vital beginnings.
The Company quickly developed its business roots geographically and by the 1960's Haymills moved its East Anglian operations to Stowmarket and a period of rapid expansion followed. Large projects in all of the main sectors were carried out from the London and Stowmarket offices, forming key client relationships and earning the Company a solid reputation which lives on in today's market place.
The 1970's will be remembered for the building industry being in the grip of the worst depression known for forty years. Even so, Haymills continued to win new business and develop long term key clients. This allowed the East Anglian side of the business in particular to earn negotiated work for many years to come and stave off any potential threat to the Company.
Haymills (Gibraltar) Limited began life in 1987 with a site office on the Royal Naval Hospital project for the Property Services Agency - who at the time dealt with all government properties.
In 2002 Julian Brandon joined the Company as Managing Director and immediately set about streamlining the business, making changes to the management structure and establishing clear Business Unit identities under the corporate umbrella, namely London, East Anglia, South (Caterham), Property Services, Conservation (Huntingdon) and Gibraltar.
With the sale of Omnico, a subsidiary distributor of plastic building materials, and the closure to future accrual of the Group Final Salary Pension Scheme in January 2004, core plans were already underway to restore value to the existing shareholders and pave the way for an autonomous Haymills. Six months later this was achieved with the successful completion of the Management Buy-out in July 2004, leaving Haymills (Contractors) Limited and Warners M&E Limited independent and owned by management and staff.
Currently, Haymills is succeeding in all of its chosen major sectors, with each Business Unit growing into new and existing markets with a rejuvenated focus of ‘exceeding client expectations'.
June 2007: Alongside the core Project Business Units, based in London's West End, Caterham, Stowmarket and Huntingdon, Haymills also offers an extended range of services - namely a well established Property Services business, a London Special Works division and a Conservation Business Unit. In addition to the existing presence of Haymills in Gibraltar over the last two decades a Major Projects division has also been established.
2008: A busy year for the company which included the financial completion of the Management Buy-Out debt incurred in 2004. Leading on from this and to bolster our position against difficult industry and economic conditions, a revised divisional structure was incorporated. Three Divisions were formed, each with its own managing director and capable of providing a flexible yet customer-focused service. These were Haymills Projects, Haymills Property Solutions and Haymills Gibraltar.
2009: The construction industry finds itself in a tough situation along with the rest of the economy and predictions of a downturn have not been overplayed.
The assets and staff of Haymills (Contractors) Limited and in particular the East Anglian Projects Division and the Property Solutions business were acquired by VINCI Construction UK Limited (VCUK) from the Administrators, PriceWaterhouseCooper, on 13 August 200. In excess of 400 employees including staff and tradesmen were transferred to VCUK.
The East Anglian Projects business will operate under the name of Haymills and be part of the Regional Contracting Division of VINCI Construction UK Limited, whilst Haymills Property Solutions is integrated into VINCI Facilities.
Our focus remains on building long-term relationships and doing what we do best – which is to build.
"We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us."
Winston Churchill addressing the House of Commons in October 1943