Sydney Green & Sons was a civil engineering contractor from Oxfordshire in England, which built sections of British motorways, notably the M2 in Kent, M5 and the M40, mostly in the Home Counties.[1][2]

History

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It was formed by Colonel Sydney W. Green OBE on 19 February 1948.[3]

The company floated on the London stock exchange in January 1959.[4]

The company was bought on Monday 6 November 1967[5] for around £2.8m, and operated as a subsidiary.

In 1973, the company made a £904,000 loss, and the parent company withdrew from civil engineering.[6]

Structure

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It held annual general meetings in Henley-on-Thames, where it was headquartered.[7]

Construction

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  • A14 (former A45) - it was awarded a £2m contract[8] on Tuesday 16 March 1971 for the Trimley bypass of the A45, by East Suffolk County Council
  • M2 - the contract was awarded on Monday 12 June 1961 for the 26-mile motorway, where it built part of the £1,106,408 Section 1, as part of a consortium
  • M4 - Heathrow Spur to Langley, four miles, £3.2m, with Cubitts, as a consortium,[9] opened December 1964
  • M40 - as part of a consortium of two other contractors, it was offered the contract of £4,749,822 on Monday 29 June 1964[10] for the first eight miles of the A40(M) in Buckinghamshire, now the M40, where work started on 1 July 1964, to last 28 months,[11] and on Tuesday 12 January 1971 it was awarded a £290,274 contract to build the Knaves Beech Interchange junction 3 on the M40 at Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, near the Loudwater Viaduct[12]
  • M5 - awarded the contract of £5.5m on Thursday 5 June 1969 for six miles of the motorway from Brookthorpe to Eastington, Stroud in Gloucestershire, to take two years[13] in partnership with Costain Group
  • Fleet services on the M3,[14] construction began in February 1972, opening in June 1973

References

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  1. ^ Times Friday August 28, 1959, page 15
  2. ^ Times Tuesday June 13, 1961, page 4
  3. ^ Birmingham Daily Post Monday 20 September 1965, page 8
  4. ^ Times Friday January 9, 1959, page 17
  5. ^ Times Tuesday November 7, 1967, page 24
  6. ^ Times Friday January 12, 1973, page 18
  7. ^ Henley Standard September 2021
  8. ^ Times Wednesday March 17, 1971, page 20
  9. ^ Times Tuesday April 16 1963, page 18
  10. ^ Times Tuesday June 30, 1964,
  11. ^ Times Monday September 21, 1964, page 19
  12. ^ Times Wednesday January 13, 1971, page 16
  13. ^ Times Friday June 6, 1969, page 25
  14. ^ Reading Evening Post Wednesday 29 March 1972, page 22