Scott Wilson Group

History

Sir Cyril Kirkpatrick (1872–1957) was Chief Engineer to the Port of London Authority from 1913 to 1924, when he established his own firm specialising in docks, harbours and sea defences. During World War II, Kirkpatrick advised on the construction of the concrete caissons which formed the Mulberry Harbour that facilitated the D-Day landings. In 1945 engineers William Scott and Dr Guthlac Wilson founded a partnership. Between them they were responsible for the design of the Chiswick and Twickenham Bridges over the River Thames in 1933, and the Royal Festival Hall in London. The two firms merged in 1951, forming Scott & Wilson, Kirkpatrick & Partners.

In the late 1960s Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Partners was responsible for engineering works on the M6 motorway through the Lune Gorge in north-west England. The firm grew through acquisitions over the following decades. In August 1995 the company purchased two British Rail engineering design offices in Glasgow and Swindon during the privatisation of British Rail. Other acquisitions were in the fields of environmental consultancy, health and education property, power and mining, landscape design and engineering.

In 1997 the firm adopted the name Scott Wilson, and it floated on the London Stock Exchange on 15 March 2006. The company acquired the civil engineering specialist Benaim Enterprise in 2008 for £5.5 million.

On 10 September 2010, American engineering design firm URS Corporation completed its acquisition of Scott Wilson Group plc. Scott Wilson Group plc is no longer listed in the London Stock Exchange. Scott Wilson rebranded initially as URS-Scott Wilson, though the Scott Wilson name was dropped in the UK, Ireland, Europe and the Middle East in 2012, and in India in 2013.

At the time of the acquisition, Scott Wilson Group had 5,500 employees in 80 offices, mainly located in the UK, Europe, India, the Asia-Pacific region, and the Middle East. The group's regional main offices were in London, Hong Kong, Warsaw, New Delhi, Bahrain and Dubai.