Architect hit by slowdown in schools and health spending and falling fee levels
Architect BDP has seen profit nearly halved in the year to 30 June 2012 as school and healthcare projects dried up.
The firm reported a profit of £1.5m over the period down from £2.8m the year before – a fall of 44%.
It also saw a dip in revenue which fell 15% to £67.6m in 2011-12 from £79.7m in 2010-11.
Peter Drummond, chief executive of BDP, said: “Profit dropped proportionately more than turnover because we continued to invest in our international network (and we now have vibrant studios in the Middle East, India, and China) and fee levels have decreased dramatically, but we steadfastly held our salary levels for staff.
“We were affected in 2011 by a dramatic slowdown in schools and healthcare spending programmes in the UK, and the stop-start nature of commercial projects.”
He said he had noticed the market in the UK stabilising over the last six months with an increase in office and housing work.
Revenue from projects in the UK fell the most over the period dropping 18% to £50.8m in 2011-12. Work in Europe fell 16% to £4.3m and work in the rest of the world rose 1% to £12.4m
The firm also reported a drop in staff from employing 560 architects in 2010-11 to 487 in 2011-12. It lost engineers as well moving from employing 144 to 118 over the period.
No comments yet