Here in the UK our origins trace back to London construction company Trollope and Colls and we became part of the Skanska Group in 2000.
Skanska through the years
1778 The origins of construction company Trollope and Colls date back to two family businesses in London, an interior decorating firm and a building contractor.
1887 Construction company Skanska Cementgjuteriet is formed by Rudolf Fredrik Berg in Malmo in Southern Sweden and expands across Sweden.
1897 The first international contract carried out by Skanska Cementgjuteriet was for hollow concrete blocks for telephone cables in the UK.
1910 Belgian engineer Albert Francois founds the Francois Cementation Company in Doncaster, known today as Cementation Skanska. Francois pioneered the cementation process of grouting for sinking mine shafts.
1965 AB Skanska Cementgjuteriet is registered on the Stockholm Stock Exchange A list.
1968 In the UK, Trafalgar House acquires Trollope and Colls.
1971-1978 Skanska Cementgjuteriet carries out its first US projects – subway systems in New York and Washington D.C.
1984 Skanska Cementgjuteriet changes its name to Skanska.
1996 Kvaerner buys Trafalgar House.
2000 Skanska acquires Kvaerner Construction and Skanska UK is born.
2002 The Skanska Code of Conduct is introduced.
2003 Iconic London office building The Gherkin is completed.
2006 Skanska buys utilities business McNicholas which becomes part of the UK business.
2010 Skanska awarded first Crossrail project at Royal Oak Portal. We worked on seven Crossrail projects in total, including Paddington and Bond Street stations, helping to build the new railway across London.
2011 Skanska named ‘the greenest company in the UK’ by The Sunday Times.
2012 Skanska celebrates its 125-year anniversary.
2013 Skanska acquires Atkins Highways Services, which becomes part of Skanska UK.
2015 Redevelopment of our Bentley Works office and workshop facilities in Doncaster is completed. Home to Cementation Skanska, the buildings were refurbished to near-zero environmental impact, with significant reductions to energy use across the site.
2016 Redevelopment of St Bartholomew’s hospital in central London completes – part of a 10-year construction project which also included The Royal London Hospital.
2017 Gregor Craig appointed President and CEO of Skanska UK.
2017 Named as the UK’s most inclusive construction employer, one of Britain’s healthiest places to work and a top employer for social mobility.
2019 Skanska UK commits to being carbon neutral by 2045, including our supply chain.
2019 51 Moorgate, our London office, opens. Developed, built and now maintained by Skanska teams, our workplace pioneered a new standard for health and wellbeing in offices, and is one of the smartest buildings in the city.
2020 Our work on one of the most complex parts of Britain’s new high-speed railway commences – HS2’s London tunnels. The HS2 programme will increase rail capacity, boost regional growth through better connections and help decarbonise Britain’s transport system.
2021 Skanska sells its infrastructure services business in the UK to focus more on our core capabilities in the building, infrastructure and facilities management markets.
2021 Skanska named as one of the World’s Top Female-Friendly Companies, and the top-ranked construction and development company.
2022 A workplace for the future – we move into our new UK head office at Leavesden Park in Watford. It has been designed to support collaboration, creativity and innovation as well as health, wellbeing and productivity for our teams.
2022 Skanska named a “Climate Leader” in Europe by the Financial Times and data insight company Statista.
2023 Katy Dowding appointed President and CEO of Skanska UK.
2023 Skanska recognised as one of the 'World’s Best Employers' by Forbes Magazine.