Prioritising skill, sustainability and community, Caxton Group delivers high-quality construction services, apprenticeships, and innovative façade solutions
Caxton Group provides a nationwide service to the UK construction industry, working in partnership with leading main contractors. With over 20 years of experience, the team understands the challenges clients face. Caxton Group’s ethos is simple: the company delivers high-quality service, on time and within budget. Renowned for its expertise and commitment to excellence, Caxton Group is a trusted partner in the industry. The company comprises six specialist businesses: Caxton Builders, Caxton Façades, Caxton Developments, Caxton Academy, Caxton Mechanical & Electrical, and Stofix UK – each with a dedicated and highly skilled team, ensuring outstanding results across every project.
Established in 2006, Caxton Group is a privately owned company set up by John Webber. The business began with a 20-strong team operating from the head office in Stoke on Trent. Caxton Builders continued to grow, as did the demand for additional services, which led to the creation of Caxton Façades, Caxton Developments, Caxton Academy, Caxton Mechanical & Electrical, and Stofix UK. Today, the business boasts a team of over 200 people and maintains its course for expansion.
Scott Millington, Operations Director at Caxton Group shares details about the group’s specialist businesses. “Caxton Façades was established to specialise in the installation of high-quality façade systems, with a strong focus on large-scale, high-rise residential projects. The company has also contributed to various community and educational developments, demonstrating versatility and craftsmanship across sectors. Recent standout projects include The Bath House, an impressive 18-storey residential tower in Birmingham, and The Holloway, a neighbouring build-to-rent development. Caxton Façades continues to go from strength to strength, recently earning recognition at the prestigious Construction News Specialists Awards, winning Specialist Contractor of the Year. This success reflects both the team’s technical excellence and their commitment to delivering outstanding results for clients on every project.”
One such project is Soho Yard, a transformative new residential development in Sheffield forming part of a wider £300 million regeneration scheme. Completed in December 2024, it represents a bold, high-rise approach to modern city living. The projects required a brick slip façade that could meet high standards for aesthetics, performance, and buildability. Caxton Façades’ scope involved the full external façade installation of both blocks, carefully planned to suit the build sequence and site logistics. As a specialist installation partner for Stofix UK, Caxton Façades provides a fully integrated façade delivery service aligned with Stofix system standards and project requirements. Its scope includes design coordination and technical consultancy, system manufacture, logistics and delivery scheduling, certified installation, and comprehensive aftercare and warranty support. By maintaining collaborative accountability across all phases, Caxton ensures clear communication between design, manufacture, and site teams, minimises programme risk, and supports efficient, just-in-time installation sequencing in line with project timelines.
Stofix is a pre-pointed, panel-based brick slip facade that is fire rated over 18 metres with the flexibility to choose almost any brick. The unique, lightweight system is approximately 95 per cent pre-pointed and constructed off-site. It’s a highly efficient system because it’s manufactured off-site, aligning with the growing shift toward modern methods of construction that are increasingly favoured for their environmental and sustainability benefits, making it a much greener and more responsible approach compared to traditional building methods. The demand for Stofix brick slip façade continues to grow and is now available across Europe.
Investing in talent
Meanwhile, Caxton Builders is the founding business of the group, and a recent notable project is the completion of the masonry package of Glasswater Locks, a residential and commercial development in Birmingham city centre working with main contractor St Joseph Homes of the Berkeley Group. “Recent coverage of that project has really focused on job creation, which is a fantastic story to tell,” Scott shares. “Many of our apprentices are working at Glasswater Locks, and it’s been great to see how the project is helping to train young people and open up new opportunities in the Midlands. In September 2025, we were delighted to welcome the Chancellor, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves, to Glasswater Locks. Her visit underscored the government’s commitment to addressing the UK’s housing shortage through high-quality regeneration projects that create not only new homes, but also sustainable employment opportunities and vital skills development.”
Caxton Group cares about the people behind its projects. That’s why the company is proud to support the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity, which provides critical emotional and financial help to construction workers and their families. It’s another way the company looks out for its industry, making sure that those who build communities are supported when they need it most. “Another really important community initiative for us is the Caxton Academy, which we officially launched in 2025,” Scott enthuses. “It was an idea developed by Ivan Sharpe and Andy Townshend of Caxton Builders to create a dedicated programme for training young apprentice bricklayers. Caxton Academy, based in Birmingham, works in partnership with a training provider called Salutem and is led by our Apprenticeship Manager, Ivan Sharpe. It offers a two-year course using an innovative block learning model: six weeks in college followed by six weeks on site. This helps apprentices gain real confidence and practical experience. We also offer an optional third year which really helps our apprentices become more confident, skilled bricklayers.
Ivan explains, “After two years, they’re offered a third year to deepen their skills before successful apprentices progress into full-time roles at Caxton Builders. We’ve just welcomed our second intake of apprentices. Recently, we celebrated one of our apprentices, Lizzie Allingham, who won the Association of Brickwork Contractors (A of BC) Apprentice of the Year award; a fantastic achievement also won by Alistair Corbett, a Caxton apprentice in 2024. Caxton Academy was officially launched with great support from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and local media, highlighting how important it is to create opportunities and invest in the next generation of construction talent.”
Caxton Academy was officially opened on 6 February 2025 by Helene Dearn OBE, interim Director of Employment, Skills, Health, and Communities at WMCA. Helene said: “The construction sector is a cornerstone of the West Midlands economy, and as we push forward with ambitious projects for new housing, regeneration, and transport, we must act to meet the rising demand for skilled workers. That’s why Caxton Academy is so important, giving people hands-on, high-quality training in the skills that businesses need. With youth unemployment in the West Midlands double the national average, we need to bring more young people into industries like construction. This academy offers real career opportunities and directly supports the mayor’s pledge to create 20,000 learning and work placements”.
Trust, respect, integrity and passion
Its workforce is Caxton Group’s biggest asset and to ensure it can remain at the forefront of industry advancements, the company prioritises continuous training and development of its staff. Through investment in learning opportunities, Caxton Group aims to collectively build skill sets to meet the evolving nature of the construction industry. “We’ve just launched our vision, mission, and values across the business, a project led passionately by our Managing Director, Chris Bellamy. The aim is for everyone, from bricklayers to senior management, to truly live by these values of trust, respect, integrity and passion. “It’s about embedding integrity and respect into everything we do and selecting who we work with and the people we recruit based on these values,” Scott ends.