Formerly involved in housebuilding, it sold its housing businesses to Bovis Homes, subsequently renamed Vistry Group, in January 2020, and Galliford Try is today focused on the building, highways and environment markets.

Prior to the sale of its housing arm, it was ranked fifth largest by turnover among UK construction companies in 2019.

Despite completing several acquisitions, the company's housing activities remained on a relatively small scale, peaking at around 200 units per year during the early 1990s.

[6] The merger incurred some one-time costs were largely attributable for the company's first year profit being down 50%, to £4.9m, in spite of an increase in turnover of 25% to £568.5m;[9] In the early 2000s, management opted to respond with a series of redundancies and targets closures of underperforming offices.

[42] CEO Peter Truscott said the company's construction division would no longer undertake fixed price major projects of this kind.

[49] In July 2019, Galliford Try was suspended from the Prompt Payment Code for failing to pay suppliers on time.

[54] Two months later, the group was reportedly considering a possible demerger of its construction interests from the more profitable housing and partnerships business within the following two years.

[55] During September 2019, discussions with Bovis Homes about a possible sale were reopened;[56] that same month, a preliminary deal, valued at £1.075bn, was reportedly agreed.

[58] On 7 November, it was reported that Bovis Homes had agreed a share and cash deal that valued Galliford Try's housing business at £1.1 billion.

[59] The sale of Galliford Try's housing interests to Bovis Homes, later renamed Vistry Group, was completed on 3 January 2020.

[1] The sale of the housing arm left the remaining business able to focus on the general construction, highways and environment markets.

[64] In December 2021, the company moved its headquarters from Wolvey to the Gateway House development at Grove Park in Leicester.