Open to building services consultancies with a total staff complement of 50 or more (including regional offices). The winner is the consultancy that demonstrated sound business performance, coupled with a commitment to training and development, investment in people and a customer focused approach.
Winner
Hoare Lea
The 2008 award makes this the third consecutive victory for Hoare Lea in the large consultancy category. In that time, turnover has increased 75%, and Hoare Lea now has 750 staff in 10 offices.
The judges were impressed with how well appreciated the firm was both by its clients and its employees – about 80% of work is for repeat clients and staff turnover is 11%.
Projects completed in 2007 included the Postgraduate Statistics Centre at Lancaster University. The firm’s training programmes saw 43 students complete summer placements and 38 undergraduates recruited.
In terms of customer service, Hoare Lea has put its money where its mouth is: it declined work from new clients last year in order to maintain the quality of its service to existing customers.
Runners-up
White Young Green
The 10th anniversary year of WYG proved to be its best ever. Revenues leapt 32%, operating profit was up 43% and the firm completed six acquisitions. Its new “Big Idea” training programme enables graduates to spend their initial year acquiring experience in different disciplines, such as rail, environmental or planning. Projects included the award-winning Eco Centre at Cockermouth School.
Arup
Another exciting year for Arup saw UK turnover up 25%, profits up 50% and staff numbers increased by 20%. The company has taken on some of the most challenging projects, such as helping to return London’s St Pancras station to its former glory. China has also been fertile ground for Arup – it has undertaken projects for the Beijing Olympics and is also involved with the eco-city in Dongtan.
BDP
Every building BDP designs aspires to be sustainable, and every one of its engineers practises sustainable techniques. It has built one of the biggest sustainability teams in the UK, infusing the whole company with expertise. The company’s innovative projects include Victoria Square in Belfast, the Royal Alexandra children’s hospital, Brighton, and the Marlowe Academy, Ramsgate.
Buro Happold
Buro Happold continued the consolidation of its building services teams throughout 2007, with large BS projects making up 40% of its services workload. The firm has 415 BS engineers in its 19 global offices. New recruits in 2007 included 30 graduates. Projects completed last year include the 20,000m2 Alsion campus at Syddansk University in Denmark, which has a concert hall and science park.
Faber Maunsell
Faber Maunsell sees training as an investment in the future, and has committed to spending 2.6% of turnover on training. It conducts an annual customer survey, and the firm’s commitment to sustainability saw it increase its water and wastewater expertise in 2007. Faber Maunsell contributes at least 1% of profits to community projects. Its 2007 work included the BBC Broadcasting House redevelopment.
Source
Building Sustainable Design
