| Activity | General contracting, construction, and development in South West England.
Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst purchased the Dartington Hall Estate in 1925, and proceeded to renovate the dilapidated buildings and erect new buildings throughout the estate and also in Dartington village. Initially, the works department of Dartington Hall Limited undertook building works, drawing on the experience of former Welwyn Garden City employees and A E Malbon who was to become Staverton Builders Ltd's first Managing Director.
On 21st July 1931 Staverton Builders Ltd was incorporated out of the Dartington Hall estate works department. A subsidiary company, Devon Electric and General Services Ltd was formed in 1931 to manage electrical work. Staverton also operated a joinery producing 'Dartside Furniture' and other fittings. Further subsidiary companies were formed to manage speculative building schemes of which the best known was the housing estate at Churston near Paignton. Other housing developments built in the 1930s by Staverton included those at Dittisham Court; St James Priory Estate, Exeter; Cliff Park, Paignton; and Carlyon Bay, St Austell, Cornwall. To a large extent Staverton pioneered modernist architecture in the southwest of England, but this was a problem too. Staverton's houses were sometimes too radical for their intended middle class audience.
Staverton Builders grew to be one of the major contractors in the southwest of England. Some of the largest projects for which Staverton was the primary contractor include the Ocean Terminal at Southampton which was completed in 1950, the Hams Hall B Power Station completed in the late 1950s, and Devon County Hall, Exeter. After World War II Staverton built hundreds of houses as well as civic centres and department stores in Plymouth and Paignton, and buildings for the universities of Exeter and Cardiff. At its height, Staverton employed over a 1000 people, most based at the Staverton Bridge Mill headquarters.
For much of its history, Staverton was a separate company outside of the umbrella of Dartington commercial activity. For the first six years, Leonard Elmhirst served as company chairman with the company initially being owned by Bascor Investments Ltd, a Foreign Personal Holding Company. In 1936, financial crisis led to the re-organisation and recapitalisation of Staverton Builders Ltd, with most shares held by Bascor Investments Ltd, a company which benefited the Dartington Hall Trust by debenture. On 7 August 1936, Staverton Builders Ltd shares held by Dartington Hall Ltd were transferred to Bascor Investments Ltd. New Bascor Ltd was dissolved voluntarily in 1957 and Staverton became directly owned by the Dartington Hall trustees with shares held by Dartington Investments Limited and in 1959 it changed its name to Staverton Contractors Limited. In June 1966, the joinery department became a separate company, Staverton Joinery Ltd.
Staverton Construction Ltd was incorporated in 1975 and records indicate that with effect from April 1984, the undertaking of Staverton Contractors Ltd was transferred to Staverton Construction Ltd. On 12 February 1976 the Staverton Contracting Group was sold by the Dartington Hall Trust to the Bristol based JT Group Ltd. However, The Dartington Hall Trust retained interest in its ownership via its shares of the separate Staverton Joinery works and of Dartington Plant Ltd, Devon Electric & General Services Inc and Northcott Contractors. The Company was sold in 1990 to Farr Plc, based in Westbury, Wiltshire. Staverton Contractors Limited (formerly Staverton Builders Limited) was dissolved in Dec 1990 and Staverton Construction Ltd was dissolved in 2000.
As stated, A E Malbon, former general manager at Welwyn Garden City, became the company's first managing director and served until 1957. His son Harry Malbon took over in 1958 but was replaced in 1959 by J M Hazlehurst with Peter Sutcliffe as chairman of the Board. Charles Robinson was managing director with Christopher B Zealley as chairman in the 1970s. John Clements took over as Managing Director in 1976 until 1990. |