Higgs and Hill

File:Tate.britain.arp.750pix.jpg built by Higgs and Hill]]

The company was established in 1874 by the merger of the firm of Thomas Hill (managed by Rowland and Joseph Hill, grandsons of the founder) with the firm of William Higgs.[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=49753 'General introduction', Survey of London: volume 26: Lambeth: Southern area (1956), pp. 1-17.] Date accessed: 27 March 2010 It was originally called Hill, Higgs and Hill but changed its name to Higgs and Hill when Rowland Hill retired in 1879. The company was first based at Crown Works in Vauxhall but moved to New Malden in 1967.{{Cite web |url=http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cats/118/13735.htm |title=London Metropolitan Archives |access-date=2010-03-27 |archive-date=2011-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606051258/http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cats/118/13735.htm |url-status=dead }}

Sir Brian Hill, a member of the seventh generation of his family to work in the business, retired in 1992.[http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto041920071324582691 Sir Brian Hill searches for a trustworthy heir] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901005929/http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto041920071324582691 |date=2011-09-01 }} Financial Times, 19 April 2007 In 1994 it announced a rights issue to finance the acquisition of land for housing but the issue was not well subscribed.[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/higgs--hill-rights-meet-poor-response-company-disappointed-but-not-surprised-1425658.html Higgs & Hill rights meet poor response: Company 'disappointed but not surprised'] The Independent, 28 June 1994

In 1996 the company announced poor results arising from re-organisation charges and contract losses.[http://www.contractjournal.com/Articles/1996/04/04/25897/higgs-amp-hill-dive-3398m-into-the-red.html Higgs & Hill dive £8m into the red]{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Contract Journal, 4 April 1996 The company was acquired by Hollandsche Beton Groep (later HBG) later that year,{{Cite web|date=2011-09-01|title=InfoViewer: Sir Brian Hill searches for a trustworthy heir|url=http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto041920071324582691|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901005929/http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto041920071324582691|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-09-01|access-date=2021-08-05}} and was rebranded as HBG Construction with effect from 1 January 1999.{{cite news |title=HBG Triple Move |url=https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/archive/hbg-triple-move-17-12-1998/ |access-date=6 July 2020 |work=Construction News |date=17 December 1998}} HBG was itself acquired by Koninklijke BAM Groep in 2002.[http://www.bamnuttall.co.uk/history.html BAM Nuttall: History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608023452/http://www.bamnuttall.co.uk/history.html |date=2012-06-08 }}

Major projects undertaken by the company included:

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• Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge, completed in 1880
• Surrey County Hall, completed in 1893[http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccwspublications.nsf/f2d920e015d1183d80256c670041a50b/c4303f8acae4b17a802573f50051e11d/$FILE/A%20Brief%20History%20of%20County%20Hall.pdf A Brief History of County Hall]
• the Tate Gallery, completed in 1897
• the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, completed in 1905
• the London Fire Brigade Headquarters, completed in 1937
• the North and South Blocks of London County Hall, completed in 1939
• the BBC Television Centre, completed in 1960[https://web.archive.org/web/20121025055441/http://www.theproductionlist.com/bbc-television-centre-history/ BBC Television Centre - History]
• the Queen Elizabeth Hall, completed in 1967[http://www.vauxhallcivicsociety.org.uk/vauxhall-history-c.html Crown Works] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619133218/http://www.vauxhallcivicsociety.org.uk/vauxhall-history-c.html |date=2010-06-19 }} Vauxhall Civic Society
• the Hayward Gallery completed in 1968
• the South Bank Television Centre, completed in 1972
• Hillingdon Civic Centre completed in 1979{{cite web|url=http://research.historicengland.org.uk/redirect.aspx?id=7096%7CLONDON%27S%20TOWN%20HALLS|title=London's Town Halls|page=111|publisher=Historic England|access-date=5 May 2020}}
• Lord's Cricket Ground Mound Stand, completed in 1987[http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0000694 Structurae database]
• the restoration of Windsor Castle, completed in 1996[http://www.faqs.org/abstracts/Construction-and-materials-industries/Bring-me-sunshine-Well-healed-Windsor-Castle-is-well-on-the-way-to-recovery-helped-by-an-army-of-spe.html Well healed: Windsor Castle is well on the way to recovery, helped by an army of specialist craftspeople] Building Magazine, 1996

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Category:Companies established in 1874

Category:Companies based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

Category:Construction and civil engineering companies of the United Kingdom

Category:1874 establishments in England

Category:British companies established in 1874

Category:Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1874