Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
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Description area
Dates of existence
History
William Matthew Hill and William Higgs both established building firms in the 1850s : Hill and Sons in Islington, and Higgs in Westminster (later moving to Vauxhall). Friendship between the two families led to amalgamation in 1874 as Hill, Higgs and Hill. William Higgs' yard in Vauxhall became the company headquarters and was renamed "Crown Works". On the retirement of Rowland Hill in 1877 the firm's name was simplified to Higgs and Hill. The firm enjoyed several prestigious early contracts, including the Tate Gallery on Millbank, Harvey Nicholls department store in Knightsbridge, and work on the new St Thomas' Hospital at Westminster Bridge.
In 1898 the business was incorporated as a limited liability company; getting a flying start with the winning of a new contract - the largest yet - for the Royal Naval Training College at Dartmouth.
The company moved its headquarters from Crown Works in 1967, to New Malden, Surrey. The workshops were moved to Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, along with the joinery works which operated under the name of Foster and Dicksee Limited. As the business continued to expand, other building firms were taken over, including Holliday and Greenwood.