Barratt Developments PLC is a property development company operating across England, Wales and Scotland. At the very beginning, the company was established in 1958 as Greensitt Bros. Later, Sir Lawrie Barratt assumed control. The house builder boasts extensive expertise in land acquisition and planning, design, construction, sales, and marketing. The company was headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne early in its history, but today it is settled in Coalville, Leicestershire, where David Wilson’s former office was. Starting from 1968, Barratt Developments PLC has been listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The history of Barratt Developments PLC
In 1953, Lawrie Barratt, who worked as an accountant, bought five acres of land in Darras Hall and built a home there for his family. Before this event, he became disenchanted with the high purchase prices for a home for new buyers. This experience later became the basis for a new construction company, Greensitt Brothers, which Lawrie Barratt co-founded with Newcastle-based builder Lewis Greensitt.
By 1968 the company was building 500 new developments a year. However, Lewis Greensitt soon retired, and in 1973 the company became known as Barratt Developments. Over the next few years, Lawrie Barratt acquired small real estate development businesses and turned the company into a national firm, building about 10,000 homes a year.
A huge role in the development of the company was played by high-profile marketing with national advertising with the participation of Patrick Allen and a helicopter. This helped sell a record 16,500 homes through June 1983. This makes Barratt Developments PLC the largest developer in the United Kingdom. In the late 1980s, Margaret Thatcher herself acquired one of the company’s houses in London.
Lawrie Barratt remained president of the company for life until he died in 2012. Even when he retired, he was called out of retirement in extreme situations, for example, in 1991, when the company was hit hard by the recession. In the 2000s, the company went through a series of structural changes. In 2004 the developer sold Barratt American, its US operation, founded in the 1980s in California. Then the David Wilson, Ward Homes and Wilson Bowden Developments group of brands was created. And in 2012, Barratt Residential Asset Management was founded, a non-profit organization to provide property management services.
In 2015, following Mark Clare, David Thomas became CEO of Barratt Developments PLC. As of 2020, the company boasts a 5-star rating in the Home Builders Federation’s New Home Customer Satisfaction Survey. The developer has been holding this position for 11 years in a row. In addition, Barratt Developments PLC is committed to reducing its carbon footprint. By 2030, the company will build zero-carbon homes.
Peculiarities of the Building Processes
The developer’s process of creating superb-quality homes includes acquiring land, obtaining planning consents, and building the schemes. Barratt Homes, David Wilson Homes and Barratt London are the company’s current consumer brands. The developer also operates Wilson Bowden Developments.
Barratt Developments PLC takes pride in valuing customers above anything else by letting their needs shape the future of housebuilding. A recent survey has shown that over 90% of the company’s customers would advise their friends and families to buy a home from Barratt London.
The developer puts outstanding design at the heart of all new homes to ensure that they meet the Building for Life 12 design standards. The iconic schemes are designed with the aid of respected architects, interior designers, space planners, and landscape designers.
Barratt Developments PLC has a vast portfolio of projects diverse in both character and scale, ranging from urban mixed-use developments to large-scale complex regeneration schemes. Aiming to create communities rather than just buildings, the company uses its unparalleled local knowledge to integrate their developments into the environment.
