BAM Nuttall

History

The company was founded by James Nuttall Snr in Manchester in 1865, to undertake engineering works associated with infrastructure developments, such as the Manchester Ship Canal, which opened in 1894 and the narrow gauge Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, which opened in 1898.

In the 1900s and 1910s James Nuttall Snr's two sons—Sir Edmund Nuttall, 1st Baronet (1870–1923), who was made a baronet in 1922, and James Nuttall (1877–1957)—built the company into a nationwide business. In the 1920s and 1930s the company was run by Sir Edmund's son, Sir Keith Nuttall, 2nd Baronet (1901–1941), who served in the Royal Engineers in the Second World War. Other members of the family also involved were Sir Keith's brother Clive Nuttall (1906–1936) and their cousin (James Nuttall's son) Norman Nuttall (1907–1996) In 1941 Sir Keith's shares were inherited by his eight-year-old son, Sir Nicholas Nuttall, 3rd Baronet (1933–2007). During the Second World War the company was one of the contractors engaged in building the Mulberry harbour units.

Folklore has it that in 1962, during the mortgage crisis, Lady Nuttall called in the General Manager of the then Abbey National Building Society and placed a £2 million fixed deposit, with instructions to ensure that any Edmund Nuttall staff were to be assured a mortgage whilst moving from one contract to another. Once staff joined, they remained more or less lifelong with Nuttall, they were extremely well treated and looked after, especially in adversity.

Until 1978, Dulux Paints actually had a colour shade called 'Nuttall Green' - such was the firm's gravitas. After 1979, the green has changed to a somewhat lighter shade. The EN logo safety helmet commanded much respect in Liverpool and on the Wirral (Merseyside) and most of us engineers rode free on Merseyrail and MPTE buses whilst wearing it.

In 1978 the company was bought by Hollandsche Beton Groep (later HBG), a Dutch group, and in 2002 HBG was acquired by Royal BAM Group.

On 10 October 2008 Edmund Nuttall Limited changed its name to BAM Nuttall Limited.

Major projects

The company built the Liver Building completed in 1911 and was later involved in projects to build the Queensway Tunnel under the Mersey completed in 1932, the Dartford Tunnel completed in 1963, the Tyne Tunnel completed in 1967, the Kingsway Tunnel completed in 1971 (headed by D S Lawrenson FICE), the Liverpool Merseyrail Underground Loop Railway, now called Wirral Line, (headed by Peter Naylor FICE) 1972-78, opened by HM The Queen, (The Loop was one of the most challenging contracts ever on account of major labour unrest and tight Liverpool city centre working), the Medway Tunnel completed in 1998, High Speed 1 completed in 2007 and the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway completed in 2011. Nuttall were also involved in several projects for the 2012 Summer Olympics including, soil remediation and civils works in the South of the Park. The company is also involved in the construction of the Crossrail railway line in the UK.

Climate protest

On 5 June 2005, following their bid for a contract to construct the Kingsnorth power station, the company headquarters in Camberley, Surrey were invaded by climate protesters. Thirteen protesters took part in invading the offices, asking to speak about the chairman, distributing leaflets and unfurling a banner. The action resulted in five arrests; however the cases were thrown out with no case to answer.