Shepherd Building Group
A family-owned British group that developed from a York construction contractor into a manufacturer and operator of modular buildings and related products.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Shepherd Building Group is a family-owned British construction and industrial group headquartered in York. Its origins date to 1890, when joiner Frederick Shepherd established a building business in the city. The company expanded from housebuilding into general contracting and, during the twentieth century, became one of the United Kingdom’s largest privately owned construction groups. Its contracting activities covered public and private-sector work across leisure, commercial, industrial, residential, healthcare, education, retail and research projects, alongside mechanical and electrical services, facilities management and housebuilding. The group’s most distinctive long-term development was the creation of manufacturing businesses serving construction and site operations. In the early 1950s, Donald Shepherd developed bulk cement silos as an alternative to paper cement sacks. The business subsequently began producing portable site cabins, initially for Shepherd’s own construction sites and later for sale and hire to other contractors. These products were marketed under the Portasilo and Portakabin names. A portable toilet product introduced in the 1960s became Portaloo. The group later developed more permanent and relocatable modular buildings under the Yorkon brand, while additional brands and divisions included Allspace, Foremans, Konstructa and Portastor. The modular-building business broadened the group’s customer base beyond construction contractors. Portable and relocatable buildings were supplied for offices, classrooms, healthcare uses, site facilities and other applications, with examples reported in markets ranging from Europe to remote locations such as Antarctica and Libya. By the late 2000s, Shepherd’s manufactured-products activities operated alongside its contracting and building-services businesses and were supported by a network of hire centres. From 2015 onward, Shepherd Group pursued a substantial rationalisation of its non-core and underperforming activities. Shepherd Homes was sold to Galliford Try’s Linden Homes division, while the Wates Group acquired Shepherd’s mechanical and electrical services, facilities-management operations and certain construction contracts. The transaction transferred approximately 1,200 staff, but did not include every legacy liability or Shepherd’s loss-making Colindale mixed-use development. The silo and modular-products division was subsequently closed, with Portasilo and Portastor discontinued. Portakabin remained the group’s principal and most consistently profitable manufactured-products business. In June 2024, Shepherd Group sold Portakabin to Antin Infrastructure Partners, a French infrastructure investment firm, in a transaction reported as being worth more than £1.5 billion. Following that disposal, Shepherd Building Group’s identity is principally associated with the family-owned group’s historic construction operations, manufactured-building heritage and continuing management of legacy contractual matters. The company is private and does not have a publicly traded stock ticker.
History
Shepherd Building Group began in York in 1890, when 35-year-old joiner Frederick Shepherd established a building business. His younger son, Frederick Welton Shepherd, joined the enterprise and helped expand it. From 1910 the firm was known as F Shepherd and Son, and it was incorporated as F Shepherd and Son Ltd in 1924. The business moved beyond housebuilding into general contracting and established a significant regional presence across Yorkshire and the North East of England. By the late 1930s it employed about 700 people. The company undertook substantial work at military sites before and during the Second World War. After the war, its contracting portfolio became strongly associated with public-sector construction and prefabricated concrete systems, including systems developed through CLASP, Wates and the Yorkshire Development Group. In 1962 the business was reorganised under Shepherd Group Ltd. Land was acquired at Huntington near York, initially for manufacturing operations. The site later became the group’s headquarters, replacing premises at Blue Bridge Lane in 1995. A major strategic shift began in the 1950s. In 1951 Donald Shepherd developed a bulk cement silo for precast-concrete work. Early versions were made from plywood, but the design was later converted to metal. The manufacturing capability created through the silo project was then used to make portable site huts. Donald Shepherd conceived the need for easily movable shelters after observing difficult conditions at a construction site at Catterick Garrison. The cabins were first used internally and were offered to other contractors from 1961 under the Portakabin name. In 1966 the group introduced a portable toilet product, later marketed as Portaloo. The portable-building business expanded beyond construction sites. By the late 1960s, the buildings were being used as offices, classrooms and operating theatres. Shepherd introduced the Yorkon brand for prefabricated relocatable buildings in 1980. Yorkon products later outsold the group’s traditional portable cabins, and a highly insulated Pullman model received a Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement in 1992. At its peak, the group combined a very large main-contracting operation with manufacturing and hire businesses. Employment reached approximately 6,788 in 1968, fell to about 3,587 in 1971 and stood at roughly 3,200 in 2009. The contracting division worked across commercial, leisure, industrial, residential, healthcare, education, retail and research projects, while associated businesses provided mechanical and electrical services, facilities management and housebuilding. By 2009, the manufactured-products side included Portakabin, Allspace, Yorkon, Foremans, Konstructa and Portaloo, as well as Portasilo and Portastor, supported by approximately 75 hire centres. The group later reduced its exposure to contracting and less profitable manufacturing activities. In 2015 it announced redundancies in the silo and modular-products division, sold Shepherd Homes to Linden Homes and transferred its mechanical and electrical, facilities-management and selected construction activities to Wates Group. The Wates transaction involved approximately 1,200 employee transfers and excluded certain assets and liabilities, including the loss-making Colindale mixed-use development. Portasilo and Portastor were discontinued when the relevant division closed in 2019. Portakabin remained the group’s strongest continuing product business. In June 2024 Shepherd Group sold Portakabin to Antin Infrastructure Partners for a reported consideration exceeding £1.5 billion. The disposal marked the separation of one of the United Kingdom’s best-known modular-building businesses from its historic family-owned parent. Shepherd Building Group nevertheless continued to be associated with the group’s historic construction activities and with legacy contractual obligations from earlier projects.
- 2024
Portakabin sold to Antin Infrastructure Partners
[1]Shepherd Group disposes of Portakabin in a transaction reported to be worth more than £1.5 billion.
- 2019
Portasilo and Portastor activities discontinued
[1]The silo and modular-products division closes, ending the Portasilo and Portastor product lines.
- 2015
Major disposal of contracting and housing activities
[1]Shepherd Homes is sold to Linden Homes and selected construction and building-services activities are sold to Wates Group.
- 1995
Headquarters moves to Huntington
[1]The group relocates its headquarters from Blue Bridge Lane to its Huntington site near York.
- 1992
Pullman modular-building model receives a Queen’s Award
[1]The heavily insulated Pullman variant receives a Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement.
- 1980
Yorkon brand introduced
[1]Shepherd launches Yorkon for more permanent and relocatable prefabricated buildings.
- 1966
Portable toilet product introduced
[1]Donald Shepherd develops the Portablu portable toilet, later renamed Portaloo.
- 1962
Reorganisation under Shepherd Group Ltd
[1]The company reorganises under the Shepherd Group name and acquires land at Huntington for manufacturing.
- 1961
Portakabin products enter the external market
[1]Portable site cabins initially made for Shepherd’s own projects begin to be sold to other contractors.
- 1951
Development of the Portasilo concept
[1]Donald Shepherd develops a bulk cement silo designed for precast-concrete construction.
Products and positioning
A privately owned British construction and building-products group whose historical differentiation came from combining large-scale contracting with proprietary modular-building, site-accommodation and construction-support products.
Modular and relocatable buildings · 1961
Portakabin
Portakabin developed from portable site cabins created for Shepherd’s construction operations and became a broad modular-building business. Its buildings served construction sites, offices, classrooms, healthcare facilities and other temporary or relocatable uses. The product family helped Shepherd extend from contracting into manufacturing, leasing and sales. Portakabin was sold to Antin Infrastructure Partners in 2024.
Portable sanitation · 1966
Portaloo
Portaloo was the group’s portable-toilet business. It originated with Donald Shepherd’s Portablu product, introduced in the 1960s and subsequently renamed Portaloo. The brand complemented Shepherd’s modular buildings and site-accommodation products and served construction and event-related requirements.
Permanent and relocatable modular buildings · 1980
Yorkon
Yorkon was introduced in 1980 for prefabricated buildings positioned as more permanent or sophisticated alternatives to basic portable cabins. The brand became an important part of Shepherd’s manufactured-products portfolio and, by the late 1980s, its buildings were reported to outsell the group’s conventional portable cabins.
Bulk cement silos · 1951
Portasilo
Portasilo originated in Donald Shepherd’s 1951 bulk cement-silo development for precast-concrete construction. The products were initially made from plywood and later converted to metal. They were sold to construction businesses as an alternative to storing cement in paper sacks. The line was discontinued after the relevant division closed in 2019.
Storage and modular products
Portastor
Portastor was part of Shepherd’s manufactured-products portfolio alongside Portasilo, Portakabin and Portaloo. It represented the group’s involvement in modular storage and related construction-support products. The product line was discontinued when the silo and modular-products division closed in 2019.
Controversies
2021
High Court action over anonymous emails about Portakabin
Shepherd subsidiaries sought a Norwich Pharmacal order in Ireland requiring Google to disclose information associated with an anonymous Gmail account. The account had circulated allegations that Portakabin products failed to meet Irish building standards and made disparaging claims about product quality and named managers. The court ordered Google to provide the requested information.
2017
Health and safety notice concerning hand-tool vibration
The Health and Safety Executive issued an Improvement Notice concerning excessive hand-arm vibration from tools at the group’s York site. Shepherd reported compliance with the notice by February 2018.
2009
Consulting Association employment blacklist
Shepherd Engineering Services, a Shepherd Construction subsidiary, subscribed to the Consulting Association’s illegal employment blacklist. The company was one of 14 firms issued an enforcement notice by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office in 2009.
Brand decisions
2024
Sale of PortakabinM&ABackground
Portakabin was Shepherd Group’s consistently profitable modular-building division and had become the group’s most prominent manufactured-products business.
Action taken
Shepherd Group sold Portakabin to Antin Infrastructure Partners, a French infrastructure investment firm.
Aftermath
The transaction separated the Portakabin business from its historic family-owned parent and significantly narrowed Shepherd Group’s operating portfolio.
Reported transaction value. More than £1.5 billion (June 2024)
2015
Rationalisation of non-core businessesStrategyBackground
Shepherd Group’s Portakabin operation remained consistently profitable, while several other contracting and manufactured-products activities were described as underperforming or non-core.
Action taken
The group announced redundancies, sold Shepherd Homes to Linden Homes, transferred selected construction and building-services activities to Wates and began withdrawing from the silo and related modular-products businesses.
Aftermath
The silo and modular-products division closed in 2019, while the group’s historical construction contracts continued to generate legacy costs and liabilities.
Reported consideration for Wates transaction. £9.8 million (2015)
2010
Court of Appeal upholds Trinity Walk payment rulingOtherBackground
Shepherd had contracted with William Hare Group for structural steelwork at the Trinity Walk shopping-centre development in Wakefield. After the ultimate client entered administration, Shepherd attempted to withhold approximately £996,683.35 under a pay-when-paid clause.
Action taken
The Technology and Construction Court rejected the withholding approach in 2009, and the Court of Appeal upheld that decision in 2010. The dispute concerned the wording of the payment clause, which the court treated as obsolete for the purpose asserted.
Aftermath
Shepherd later acquired the partly completed shopping centre with AREA Property Partners in order to support its completion.
Amount withheld or sought to be withheld. £996,683.35 (2008-2010)
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