Taylor Woodrow Construction, branded as Taylor Woodrow, is a UK-based civil engineering contractor and one of four operating divisions of Vinci Construction UK. The business was launched in 2011, combining civil engineering operations from the former Taylor Woodrow group and from Vinci UK - formerly Norwest Holst. Taylor Woodrow was one of the largest housebuilding and general construction companies in Britain. It merged with rival George Wimpey in July 2007 to create the Taylor Wimpey housebuilding group. In September 2008, Taylor Woodrow Construction was acquired by Vinci plc from Taylor Wimpey; initially branded as part of Vinci Construction, the civil engineering division reverted to the name Taylor Woodrow Construction in 2011 to reflect its civil engineering heritage. History Taylor Woodrow Early years The Taylor Woodrow business was founded in Blackpool in 1921 as a housebuilder by Frank Taylor and his uncle, Jack Woodrow, creating the Taylor Woodrow name. In 1930, Taylor moved to London and his business eventually established headquarters in Southall. In 1935, the housebuilding business was floated on the London Stock Exchange as Taylor Woodrow Estates. In 1937, Taylor Woodrow Construction was formed and, after a modest start, the company was soon engaged in defence work. With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, private housing development stopped, and for six years Taylor Woodrow built military camps, airfields and factories, and worked on the Mulberry harbour units. 1945-2008 By 1945, Taylor Woodrow had become a substantial construction business, and it expanded into domestic civil construction work and internationally, working in East Africa (it was involved in the notorious Groundnut Scheme), then west and South Africa and, in the 1950s, Australia, Canada and the middle east. In the UK, Taylor Woodrow Construction became a prominent contractor in the power generation industry, building first conventional power stations and then the world's first commercial nuclear power station, Calder Hall. Hartlepool, Hinkley Point A, Wylfa and Sizewell A followed. In the private sector, notable contracts included terminal buildings at London Heathrow airport, and the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. Work in the middle east helped grow Taylor Woodrow’s international construction business and by the mid 1970s overseas profits accounted for two thirds of group profits. The centrepiece was the joint venture with Costain to build the dry docks at Port Rashid, Dubai, described as "the largest single overseas contract ever undertaken by the British construction industry". However, by the 1980s, middle east construction