We are targeting another successive year of strong business growth and positive outcomes despite a political and economic environment of uncertainty that proved challenging for areas of the construction industry in 2019.
Last year, not only did we welcome our 200th employee, meaning a doubling in size since 2010, we opened a new office in Oxford, received an Investors in People Silver accreditation, and continued to provide sustainable, cost-effective solutions to clients in education, NHS, housing and other sectors.
We were also announced as a Top 50 consultancy in Building magazine’s league table, rising 25 places to 48th position in a list that ranks firms on employee numbers, chartered staff and project fees.
Partner David Cresswell said: “We are extremely proud of the growth of our Practice, which is built on our proven track record of top-quality, multi-disciplinary services. We look forward to strengthening our core values of providing sustainable solutions and added-value benefits to our clients over the next year.”
We unveiled our Oxford office in response to growing client demand and opportunities for development following years of successful project work in the region.
Elsewhere, innovative projects for long-standing education clients gained momentum: from the design of a £3 million state-of-the-art teaching block for students with special education needs (SEN) to winning millions of pounds in grant funding from the government-run Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) for schools.
The cash is crucial for the education sector’s desire to replace dilapidated classrooms with energy-efficient environments. Sports halls and performing arts blocks were also designed by our specialist architects and brought to fruition under the guidance of skilled project managers.
The New Year heralded our stunning new London office designed for agile working to enhance staff wellbeing whilst increasing productivity and employee retention.
David added: “It’s a great example of how our multidisciplinary teams collaborate and provides a showcase example of how potential clients can follow suit and reduce their office costs if, like us, they discover that the nature of their work means not everyone needs desk space at the same time.”
Meanwhile, we project managed the near-complete Ipswich Winerack, providing architecture, quantity surveying, planning and other multi-disciplinary services, and held our annual Charity Golf Day, raising a record £6,873 for St Helena Hospice in Colchester.