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Who We Are
History Highlights
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 | In 1885, Charles William Bovis acquired a modest building business located the London's Marylebone from its founder, Francis Saunders. It was the beginning of a business odyssey that developed into the internationally renowned construction and project management company known today as Bovis Lend Lease.
Whilst Bovis changed hands again in 1908, it retained the Bovis name and remained a family-managed business until 1974 when it was acquired by the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O). During those years, Bovis had evolved into a nationwide construction, house building, civil engineering and property conglomerate. Bovis was acknowledged for its fixed fee-based form of contract and strong belief in sharing its client’s aspirations. The company's hummingbird logo, introduced in 1971, became a familiar sight throughout Britain and increasingly overseas.
Under P&O rationalisation, Bovis focused on house building and construction. In the mid-1980s, under the leadership of Sir Frank Lampl, Bovis sought to become an international force in the construction market. Through acquisition and organic growth, the company expanded into the USA and Continental Europe, then later into Asia and Australia. The result was a business with both global and local capabilities.
Bovis pioneered forms of contract such as construction management and Build-Operate-Transfer, the equivalent of Britain’s Private Finance Initiative, expanding both its skills and its range of clients.
In 1999, Bovis completed Bluewater, Europe’s largest retail and leisure development, for a new client – Lend Lease Corporation. Lend Lease itself had 50 years experience in project and construction management in Asia Pacific that had developed under its original name of Civil & Civic. Some six months after the completion of Bluewater, Lend Lease expanded its global presence and position in the real estate business by acquiring Bovis from P&O. Bovis merged with Lend Lease Projects to form Bovis Lend Lease, a business that now operates in some 30 countries world-wide.
Today, the Bovis Lend Lease business continues to grow in size, scope of services and expertise, forming an integral part of Lend Lease. |
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