History

Origins

Back in 1890, a 35-year old joiner, Frederick Shepherd set up his own business, which quickly achieved success in speculative house building. He was later assisted by two sons, William, the elder, and Frederick Welton.

By the time Frederick Welton, who had trained as a bricklayer, joined the business around 1900, work was being undertaken outside York and a recession in the market for new houses led to a diversification into general contracting jobs.

William Shepherd decided to emigrate to America in 1910. Henceforward, the business was known as F Shepherd and Son, and was incorporated as a private company in 1924.

The founding Frederick Shepherd died in 1930, although Frederick Welton had been a driving force in the company for some time and had been instrumental in developing the firm's main premises at Blue Bridge Lane, beside the River Ouse, which were to remain the Shepherd head office premises until 1995.

Post-war Expansion

By the time World War II broke out, F Shepherd & Son Ltd was a substantial builder, with a workforce of around 700, engaged on projects in many parts of the north east of England.

After the end of the war, the chance to expand contracting operations was seized, both by opening new offices and acquiring existing local companies in new areas.

The strategy was successful and the company continued to expand under the direction of four of Frederick Welton's sons: Peter (later Sir Peter), Donald, Michael and Colin. Other substantial operations such as Shepherd Building Service, Shepherd Homes, Shepherd Engineering Services, Shepherd Development Co and Mechplant took on major roles of their own.

Manufacturing Innovation

Experience in handling cement in bulk on sites led to the formation of Portasilo Ltd in 1953, to design and manufacture portable cement silos.

This was a major industry innovation. Arguably a still bigger one came in 1961 with a growing awareness of the inadequacy of building site accommodation. A new type of unit was developed, with telescopic legs. This accommodation was built to a high standard, could be positioned easily, and moved quickly to a new site. These PORTAKABIN units were immediately marketed outside the Shepherd business, and indeed outside the construction industry, and they rapidly became famous. Initially, these revolutionary cabins were made by Shepherd Woodwork Ltd but a new company, Portakabin Ltd, was soon formed and a purpose-built manufacturing facility developed at Huntington in York.

Business Re-structured

In 1962 the structure of the business was reorganised. A new holding company, Shepherd Group Ltd, was formed.

By the end of the 1970s, the Shepherd Group had become one of the 500 largest companies in the UK. Remarkably, this had been achieved without recourse to raising capital from the public, and the Group remains an unquoted company. It is now one of the largest wholly family-owned private companies in the UK. Its essential character as a family business remains strong, with fourth generation Shepherd family members currently heading two out of three operating Divisions of the Group.

Shepherd Group in the 21st Century - Construction and Engineering Division

Shepherd Construction is now a major national contracting organisation, operating from a network of offices in Birmingham, Darlington, Langley, Leeds, London, Manchester, Northampton and York.

Shepherd is a leading exponent of the single responsibility, design and build format for contracting. A British pioneer in the field, operating under the Shepherd Design & Build brand name for the majority of the time, it has established over forty years' experience of this time and cost saving approach. Shepherd Construction now markets this procurement format.

Shepherd Engineering Services (SES) has developed to the point where it has regional offices in London, Birmingham and Northampton. It offers a nationwide, multi-service facility, under co-ordinated project management and specialises in clients who require a complete service. Work undertaken includes design, installation, commissioning and lifetime maintenance for air-conditioning systems, M&E and process services.

Manufacturing Division

The Group's Manufacturing Division is centred on the modern 60-acre factory complex at Huntington, York, which produces the market leading PORTAKABIN modular buildings.

The PORTAKABIN name, a Registered Trade Mark, has become widely recognised, with a reputation for quality in the marketplace. Portakabin Ltd has over eighty Hire Centres in the UK and mainland Europee.

Portakabin now markets as a hire product the famous PORTALOO toilet and changing accommodation units, which were developed by sister company Portasilo Ltd.

Yorkon Ltd, a subsidiary of Portakabin Ltd, provides a successful single-source building service based on the technically advanced YORKON steel frame modular building system. The YORKON approach has ensured success in a wide variety of applications, from multi-storey office projects, through McDonalds fast food restaurants and Tesco 'Express' supermarkets. The company has a reputation for design and innovation in the modular marketplace, both in the public and private sectors.

Foremans Relocatable Building Systems Ltd, acquired in 2001, provides a nationwide service for the purchase, relocation, hire and sale of refurbished modular buildings.

Portasilo Bulk Handling Systems, which reached its 50th Anniversary in 2003, has further developed to the point where Portasilo designs, manufactures and maintains a wide range of equipment for handling and storing bulk powdered or granular materials for a wide range of process industries.

The Portastor operation manufactures PORTASTOR technical buildings and complete network infrastructure solutions to the telecommunications industry. Advanced shelter solutions, including fast track and multi-operator cell sites have been successfully developed and marketed. Housings have been developed for a wide range of fibre broadband and numerous other equipment housing applications, with a particular strength in trackside applications for the rail industry.

Shepherd's manufacturing operation launched a significant new development in 2004. This was in response to the growing UK demand for factory-finished and furnished park homes, for the holiday, retirement and second homes markets. The newly established Park & Leisure Homes operation was launched around a new ADVENT range of park homes and leisure lodges. The operation was further strengthened with the acquisition of Homeseeker Homes Ltd, a Northamptonshire-based company that was well established in the market.

Property Division

Shepherd companies have traditionally pursued excellence in design, management and craftsmanship. This is readily apparent in the success of Shepherd Homes, which has built thousands of homes throughout the northeastern counties of England. Apart from honours including 'National House builder of the Year', Architectural Design and Civic Trust awards, over forty National House-building Council 'Pride in the Job' Awards have been won by Shepherd Homes employees. That is more than any comparable company.

The company builds a wide variety of homes to suit modern lifestyles on 'green field' and 'brown field' sites, involving restoration and conversion of period properties, new build and mixed schemes, covering detached, semi-detached, and town houses, flats and bungalows.

Shepherd Developments acquires and develops sites for commercial and industrial use, and sells completed developments to investment institutions. The company develops schemes alone or in partnership with local authorities and other organisations.

 

Shepherd Group, Huntington House, Jockey Lane, YORK YO32 9XW

Tel:  +44 (0)1904 650 700

Fax: +44 (0)1904 650 701