Alfred James McAlpine

Who was Alfred James McAlpine?

Alfred James "Jimmie" McAlpine, not to be confused with Baron McAlpine, was a member of the noted Anglo-Scottish construction-based McAlpine family, the son of Sir Alfred David McAlpine and the grandson of Sir Robert McAlpine, 1st Baronet. He usually went by his middle name of James or Jimmie.

After leaving Repton School, he joined the family business Sir Robert McAlpine, under his father who ran operations in Northwest England. In 1935, following the death of Sir Robert and his eldest son, Alfred ran the north west independently, although the legal separation was not completed until 1940, when Sir Alfred McAlpine & Son was formed. Under a non-compete agreement with its former parent company, Sir Alfred McAlpine confined itself to civil engineering and to the north west of England. James became chairman of the company after the death of his father in 1944. Under James's chairmanship, Alfred McAlpine floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1958 under the name Marchwiel Holdings, only changing its public name to Alfred McAlpine PLC in 1985. This followed the decision in 1983 to end the non-compete agreement with Robert McAlpine allowing the firm to expand geographically.