George Wimpey City

George Wimpey City Limited is the specialist urban major projects development arm formed by George Wimpey plc in 2001. The formation of a business dedicated to urban projects was prompted by the acquisition of Alfred McAlpine Homes. Alfred McAlpine Homes had a number of part completed urban projects and had contracted on several sites specifically for further such projects.

While some of the George Wimpey regions would have been capable of managing these projects themselves, the Group Board decided that expertise in acting as a specialist developer for urban projects should be concentrated in a dedicated team whose normal mode of operation would be as a property developer rather than a housebuilder. The key difference being the outsourcing of most functions, eg design, construction and sales, rather than these being carried out by directly employed staff according to normal UK housebuilding practice.

The use of a property developer model was considered more flexible than the normal housebuilding model as it would involve a small staff team who would then be able to commission external resources on a scheme specific basis, minimising overheads and freeing staff of regional constraints.

George Wimpey City originally comprised two separate business units;

A Canary Wharf office, responsible for developments within the M25.

A Yarm, (Teeside) office, responsbile for developments in the remainder of Great Britain. This latter business was amalgamated with the London office in 2005, following a review of the parent group's strategy for urban projects.

Key sites acquired, implemented or completed by the Yarm office included:
Kings Waterfront, Liverpool
Staiths South Bank, Gateshead
Ropeworks, Manchester
New Crane Street, Chester
Great Northern Tower, Manchester
Waterquarter, Cardiff
Skyliner, Edinburgh
Quayside Tower, Newcastle upon Tyne