The company was established by William Leech, a former window cleaner in 1934^[1] as William Leech (Builders) Ltd.^[2] It bought very large landholdings in the Cramlington area^[3] and was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1976 when its name was changed to William Leech PLC.^[2] It achieved an output of 2,500 units in 1979.^[4] It announced a merger with Bellway in 1981 but this was called off within days: "the lifestyle of the two firms looked pretty incompatible".^[5] The company was then acquired by Beazer in 1985.^[2]

• Ball, Michael (1983). Housing Policy and Economic Power: The Political Economy of Owner Occupation. Routledge. ISBN 978-0416352801.
• Cullingworth, Barry (1970). British Planning: 50 Years of Urban and Regional Policy. Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd. ISBN 978-0485006049.