A privately owned, family-run building and interiors group, founded in 1852 and based in Letchworth Garden City, that builds schools, hospitals, homes and leisure centres across the UK.
Willmott Dixon is a British construction and interiors group that builds hospitals, schools, homes, leisure centres and defence facilities. Its services include construction, residential construction, interior fit-out, property development, and property performance and services. It is privately owned and family-run, and its own history page describes it as one of a handful of British companies able to trace an unbroken line back to the mid-nineteenth century. It says it has completed over 400 projects, and examples named on its history pages include Uriah Rennie Leisure Centre in Sheffield, Huddersfield Market, and the electrification of Oldham bus depot.
The business began in 1852 when a bricklayer, John Willmott, started work in Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire. His first contract was to dig a well on the Wimpole Estate for £1. His sons ran it as John Willmott & Sons, and by the 1920s the firm had split into Hitchin and Hornsey companies and had built its first housing development, the Manor Estate in Hitchin. The two reunited in 1969, and in 1987 the company took the name Willmott Dixon, after Ian Dixon, who led its transformation. Rick Willmott, the fifth generation of the family, became chief executive in 2005 and executive chairman in 2024, when Graham Dundas became chief executive.
The company states its purpose as being "to create brilliant buildings, improve lives, and enhance our environment for future generations". It describes itself as a privately owned company that values innovation, partnership, sustainability and people, and it says safety and the environment are top priorities. It has set a goal of net zero by 2030, became carbon neutral in 2012, and has won King's Awards for Enterprise in 2023 and 2024 for promoting opportunity and for sustainability.
Its head office has been in the Spirella Building in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, since 2000, and it also has offices elsewhere in the UK, though the pages we read did not list them. A 1976 purchase gave it a London base. The company supports communities through the Peter Willmott Foundation and a programme it calls Caring for communities, which includes a news item about bringing a community together for climate action in Marple. Those are the company's own descriptions.
People who work at Willmott Dixon include site managers, building and services engineers, quantity surveyors, planners, designers, sustainability specialists, community engagement staff and the finance, legal and human resources teams that keep a large company running. Its history page mentions a Trainee of the Year award in 1989 and notes that several of its current senior leaders were winners, which suggests that people who start young can stay and progress. Its website lists current vacancies.
Website: www.willmottdixon.co.uk
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