Our History

 

We were founded as a partnership in 1923 by Alfred Bowmer, a joiner and Robert William Kirkland – a bricklayer. They undertook general building works and based themselves in the village of Heage in Derbyshire

 

Robert Kirkland died at the very young age of 40 and his son Jack, then 15, had to leave school and start earning to support his family. He joined the company as an apprentice joiner in 1928.

 

The company flourished and in 1941 Bowmer & Kirkland (Plant) Ltd was formed. This company grew to have over 50 mobile cranes, with one of the biggest in the country – the 110-ton Lorain – within our fleet.

 

In 1955, Jack Kirkland was appointed Managing Director and six years later the Bowmer & Kirkland partnership was formed into a Limited company. Since then the company has enjoyed growth and success:

 

 

1962

Jack Kirkland appointed Chairman

1967

John N Kirkland (son of Jack Kirkland) joined the company

1968

Bowmer family left the company

1970

Minster Trust acquired Bowmer family interests

1971

Lindley Plant joined the Group

1972

Bowmer & Kirkland (Plant) Ltd sold to J D White Ltd and Minster Trust interest in company acquired by Kirkland family

1973

Johnsons (Chopwell) Ltd joined the Group
 

John N Kirkland appointed Managing Director

 

Group turnover £2m

1974

B&K Steelwork Fabrications Ltd formed

1975

Robert M Kirkland (son of Jack Kirkland) joined the company

1976

Jack Kirkland died.

 

John N Kirkland appointed Chairman

1978

Group turnover £8.3m

1980

B&K Building services Ltd formed

1983

Kirkland Associates Inc formed in USA

 

Peveril Securities Ltd formed

 

Group turnover £20.8m

1984

Peveril Decorators Ltd formed

 

Key Joinery Ltd formed

1987

Peveril Homes Ltd formed

1988

Group turnover £143.7m           

1991

Peveril Interiors Ltd formed

 

Derry Building Services joined the Group

1992

KB Group joined the Bowmer & Kirkland Group

1993

Group turnover £151.8m

1994

Integrated Building Management Systems Ltd (IBMS) formed

 

Group turnover £160m

1995

Melvin Sheldon appointed to Board of Directors

 

Group turnover £220.5m

1998

Group turnover £263.3m

1999

KeyBemo Ltd formed

 

Ralph Jones appointed to Board of Directors

 

Paul Lomas appointed to Board of Directors

2000

Key Building Finishes Ltd formed

2001

B&K Property Services Ltd formed

2003

Cell Security Ltd joined the Group

 

Group turnover £486.5m

2006

Soncell Ltd (Holding company) formed

 

Sonic Communications International Ltd joined the Group

2007

TransVisual Media Ltd joined the Group

2008

Panoptech Ltd joined the Group

 

TW Engineering (San Diego) joined the Group

 

Group turnover £894.5m

2009

Decatur Electronics Inc (Illinois) joined the Group

 

AEP North America joined the Group

 

Jack Kirkland (son of J N Kirkland) and Michael Kirkland (son of R M Kirkland) appointed non-executive Directors

2010

Christopher Kirkland (younger son of R M Kirkland) appointed Non-executive Director.
2011 Soncell Middle East established in Dubai
   

 

Bowmer & Kirkland has grown to become one of the UK’s most successful privately-owned construction, engineering, development and communication groups.

 

Our headquarters are in Derbyshire and regional construction offices are in Manchester, London, Sunderland and Glasgow.

 

There are 29 companies in the group – predominantly construction related -  and we employ 1600 in the UK and USA.

 

We gained Investors in People accreditation in 2001 and were re-accredited in 2004, 2007 and 2011 demonstrating our commitment to our staff and the clients for whom they work.

 

In 2006 we established Soncell International Ltd –our Homeland Security and Public Safety Division.

This includes UK-based Cell Security, Sonic Communications and Panoptech. This was closely followed by Soncell North America – our US-based Public Safety Division which incorporates American Emergency Products, Dactur Electronics, Patrol Power and Soncell Dynamics.

 

In 2011 we established Soncell Middle East in Dubai to service existing and future clients in that region.

 

We established B&K Timber Structures Ltd ( now B&K Structures Ltd) to develop composite timber and steel structural frame solutions – enthusiastically received by our retail clients and the company won the Business Innovation of the Year Award in 2009.

 

We are Associate Members of the Considerate Constructors Scheme – only a select number of high performing contractors achieve this.

 

Our sustained commitment to health and safety is proven with numerous Gold Awards from RoSPA and we have established policies for Quality, Management Systems, Ethical Employment, Training and Development, Sustainability and Environment and a Sub-contractors Code of Conduct – helping our supply chain adhere to our high business standards.