20th century
Following the First World War, Costain began to develop housing estates in Liverpool on its own account, primarily to offer continuity of employment to its workforce.[7] With housing sites in Liverpool in short supply, Richard Costain sent his son William down to London to find new sites. He purchased the Walton Heath Land Company, and in 1923, the separate business of Richard Costain & Sons was formed.[6]
Several executive estates in the Croydon area were developed in the middle of the 1920s. In 1929, William died: the other two brothers remained in Liverpool and William’s son, Richard Rylandes Costain, was sent to run the London company. Under him, Richard Costain & Sons expanded its housing building large estates all around London, the largest being a site for 7,500 homes in South Hornchurch, started in 1934. Perhaps the best known development of all was Dolphin Square, which was completed in 1937.[6]
During 1933, Richard Costain (the London-based business) was floated on the London Stock Exchange; the Liverpool business was not part of the flotation. By then, Costain had completed over 4,000 houses in the London area, some at prices up to £4,000.[8] Costain continued to expand its private housebuilding and it was described as "one of the largest speculative housebuilders and estate developers in this country before the war."[9]
Following the flotation, Costain moved into civil engineering. One such early undertaking in this area was on the Trans-Iranian Railway and then at Abadan, Iran for BP.[10] Losses on the railway, on Beckton sewage works and the costs of Dolphin Square caused financial problems, and Costain had to look for alternative funds when Barclays withdrew its overdraft facilities.[7] By 1939 the company was on Heath Drive in Tadworth in Surrey, when Arthur Costain was the chairman.[11]
Throughout the Second World War, Costain undertook extensive military work, including the construction of Royal Ordnance Factories and airfields. One particular highlight of its wartime activities was serving as one of the contractors who built the Mulberry harbour units.[12]
Sir Richard Rylandes Costain CBE (20 November 1902 - 26 March 1966) was chairman in the 1950s, the grandson of the founder.[13][14]
In the immediate post-war years, only small estate development was undertaken by the firm; it was not until the acquisition of Nottingham-based Rostance Group in 1962 that private housebuilding resumed on any scale.[6] Further bolstered by the acquisition of the Blackpool firm R Fielding in 1969, Costain was building around 1,000 houses per year by the beginning of the 1970s.[6] The substantially increased revenues that accrued to the oil producing states led to a construction boom in the Middle East during the 1970s. Costain was a major beneficiary, particularly in the Emirates, and within a decade profits increased from little more than £1m a year to £47m.[6]
In the 1960s, A. P. Costain became chairman, with Sir Robert Taylor as chief executive.[15]
During 1985, Costain was part of the TransManche Link consortium that constructed the Channel Tunnel, which was at the time the most expensive construction project ever proposed, the final cost amounted to £9 billion (equivalent to £ billion in ).[16][17]
During the 1980s, recognising that exceptional Middle East profits could not continue, Costain sought to redeploy its extensive cash balances into coal mining, international housing and commercial property. However, over expansion in the end of the 1980s led to high gearing just as international markets were turning down; this circumstance was exacerbated by a disastrous explosion which killed ten people in 1989 at a Costain owned coal mine in the United States, for which the firm was fined $3.75m in February 1993.[18]
As a consequence of the early 1990s recession, the company incurred substantial losses that not only rapidly depleted its reserves but also compelled the sale of several key assets along with various cutbacks, particularly in its underperforming housebuilding division, that left Costain as a predominantly construction-oriented business.[6][19][20] More fiscal strain came in the form of a combined charge of £160m that was incurred by a pair of rights issues that arose in 1991 and 1993. Nevertheless, some sectors, such as coal mining, continued to provide reliable work for Costain at this time.[21]
During a dramatic low point in April 1995, the demise of Costain was incorrectly predicted by numerous British broadsheets. It was claimed that the company could not be expected to survive as an operating company by the end of the century.[22] In 1995, Alan Lovell was appointed chief executive of Costain; the actions taken during his two year tenure, which included the sale of the company's property interests in London and the acceptance of a £73m refinancing arrangement that gave the Malaysian building group Intria a 40 percent stake in the business, have been credited with having saved Costain.[23][24] On two occasions in 1996, the company had its shares suspended.[25]
During 1999, Brewer Gold Mine, an American subsidiary of Costain, abandoned a gold mine in South Carolina, which had been closed, and ceased performing its remediation duties.[26]
