After a period under the ownership of Hanson plc, it was bought out by its management in 1992, expanded its housing interests, and was relisted on the London Stock Exchange in 1996.

During the early 21st century, it expanded through acquisitions, and, following the January 2018 collapse of rival Carillion, Kier was briefly ranked, by turnover, as the second biggest UK construction contractor, behind Balfour Beatty.

However, its share price plunged following a failed rights issue in late 2018, and by mid 2019 was suffering such deep losses that analysts considered Kier might "go bust".

[3][4] After an extensive restructuring, debt reduction, cost-cutting and disposals programme, which included shedding 1,700 employees and selling its Bedfordshire headquarters and its public and private housebuilding arm, Kier Living, the company scraped back into profit in 2021.

[8] Such specialist work was part of a pattern that quickly developed in the company's operations during that period, namely the undertaking of innovative civil engineering techniques.

Their most famous contribution in this field was an eight-storey avant-garde development of apartment blocks named Highpoint, located in Highgate Village, north London.

[27] Based on its turnover in the year ending June 2017, Kier was ranked in 2018 as the second biggest UK construction contractor, behind Balfour Beatty.

[34] The 2018 results were in line with City expectations – showing a pre-tax profit of £137m from stable revenue of £4.5 billion – with Kier outlining clear debt reduction plans.

[40] The slide continued;[41] on 5 December, Kier was demoted from the FTSE 250 Index,[42] and its share price dropped below the rights issue price,[43][44] making it cheaper for investors to buy shares in the open market than in the rights issue, and leaving underwriters (Numis, Peel Hunt, Citigroup, HSBC and Santander) facing losses.

[47] After the failed rights issue,[48] shares fell by 13% to a 15-year low of 335p, but later recovered,[49][50] trading at 529p on 11 January 2019, when some shareholders sought changes in Kier's leadership team.

[54] On 28 January 2019, Kier shares dropped 4% after reports it would sell its housing maintenance arm to cut debt,[55] and the company was also reducing its waste management activities.

[71] It also announced the appointment of a new CFO, Simon Kesterton (adept at "the disposal of non-core assets, the reduction of overheads and cost control").

[70][72] On 19 September 2019, Kier announced a £245m pre-tax loss on revenues of £4.5bn for the year to 30 June 2019, resulting from £341m in impairment costs and write-downs related to preparing businesses for sale, restructuring and loss-making contracts.

[76] At the group's AGM in November 2019, shareholders objected to CEO Andrew Davies's £2.6m annual remuneration package and an associated long-term incentive scheme.

[92] Kier Living was bought by a new company owned by Terra Firma founder Guy Hands,[93] and was rebranded as Tilia Homes.

[99] Also in January 2022, Kier was reported to be in advanced talks to acquire rival contractor Tilbury Douglas, the remaining contracting arm of the former Interserve group,[100] with speculation it might pay around £50m for the almost-£500m turnover business.

[103] In September 2023, it was announced Kier had acquired the rail division of the UK construction company, Buckingham Group – which went into administration in August 2023.

[105] In March 2024, Kier shares were set to return to the FTSE 250 Index,[106] and the company resumed dividend payments for the first time in five years.

[109] From August 2021, the UK company has had four regional divisions (London, South & Strategic Projects; Midlands & Eastern; Western & Wales; North & Scotland), plus Kier Places (housing maintenance and facilities management).

[121] Subsequently, Kier was among eight businesses involved in the 2014 launch of the Construction Workers Compensation Scheme,[122] condemned as a "PR stunt" by the GMB union, and described by the Scottish Affairs Select Committee as "an act of bad faith".

[123] In December 2017, Unite announced it had issued high court proceedings against four former chairmen of the Consulting Association, included Danny O'Sullivan of Kier, alleging breach of privacy, defamation and Data Protection Act offences.

[127] In October 2018, Kier was named as a 'poor payer' at a Parliamentary inquiry into small businesses, failing to pay 48% of invoices due within their agreed terms, leading some suppliers to refuse to work for the company.

[128] In November 2019, Kier and subsidiary McNicholas Construction Services were suspended from the Prompt Payment Code for "failing to honour a commitment to pay 95% of all supplier invoices within 60 days".

[134] Kier workers operating machinery on a project on the M6 motorway near Sandbach, Cheshire twice brought down overhead powerlines, in incidents in March 2018 and January 2019.

[135] In June 2023, Kier subsidiary McNicholas Construction was named for failing to pay staff the UK legal minimum wage.