Red flags over Broadgate: BIG workers protest planned mass lay-offs after major contract scrapped

There were red flags over Broadgate on Tuesday as the architectural branch of the UK’s biggest union protested redundancies at the Bjarke Ingels Group.

Membership of the Section of Architectural Workers (SAW), a trade union which is affiliated with Unite the Union, has been rapidly rising within the staff of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) since the end of last year, when the practice announced a round of redundancies after the cancellation of a major contract in late November.

According to the union, roughly 140 staff are currently “at risk” of redundancy, just over 70 jobs set to be cut in an “optimistic” scenario. BIG’s latest company accounts, for 2024, put average staff numbers at 162, however Building Design understands the figure is currently just over 200.

SAW-Unite claims requests by workplace reps to involve experienced union representatives in negotiations over the redundancy process have been rejected by BIG management.

Around 25 protestors, including SAW-Unite members from BIG as well as other practices, congregated in the rain outside the firm’s office in the City of London, holding signs and chanting “shame on you, BIG”.

They demanded recognition of their union by BIG, a six-month voluntary redundancy package offered to all workers and the waiving of all repayment fees relating to visas and training.

BIG has said it is “unfortunately not in a position to meet” the demand for six months of redundancy pay.

The union’s final demand reflects the large number of staff at the London practice hired from abroad. Building Design understands that nearly three-quarters of staff are on an immigration route of some kind.

More BIG staff observed the protest from across the street. Some who spoke to Building Design voiced their support for the action but expressed fears that they could be targeted in the redundancy process if they joined.

“People are scared of the consequences,” said one woman.

The crowd watching the protest also included Sheela Maini Søgaard, partner and chief executive of the practice, who was seen taking photographs and videos of the protest.

“I was taking pictures of the banners so I can share with the owners,” she told Building Design when asked, however she refused to comment further, referring us to the firm’s press office. She also declined to speak with SAW-Unite workplace organising co-ordinator Joe Elbourn when approached.

A BIG spokesperson later told Building’s sister title Building Design: “We deny claims that we have sought to intimidate employees or undermine lawful union activity. Our focus remains on treating all staff with respect, transparency, and fairness during a challenging period for both the studio and the wider industry.”

It said that no formal request for union recognition was put forward until January 27, when collective consultancy had already begun.

A spokesperson said consulting of lawyers and unions during collective consultancy should happen “outside of the meetings between management and employee reps”, but added that it had made clear to employee representatives and the union its agreement that “union representation is acceptable at individual consultation meetings which will happen after collective consultancy is complete”.

The company has not publicly disclosed the job that was cancelled at the end of last year, leading to the redundancy process, however it is understood to be located in Saudi Arabia. A BIG spokesperson did confirm that roughly half of the London office were working on the scheme and said it “immediately informed our entire team” when it was terminated.

BIG staff at the protest were reluctant to name the scheme, citing non-disclosure agreements and referring to it simply as “the project”. However, one attendee said that the firm had won the job in 2023.

“It’s really unusual to put half your office basically on a single client [and] a single project and I think the big issue for a lot of people is that there wasn’t enough risk management,” he added.

BIG said the project’s termination was down to “circumstances beyond our control” and said it had “immediately informed out entire team”.

“Unexpected project changes are an inherent challenge in professional service firms, even with the most robust risk management and contractual processes,” a spokesperson said.

Employees at the protest described a significant increase in hiring, including many workers being brought in from abroad on visas, in order to staff the project. An increase in employees at the firm over the period is borne out by figures published in the company’s accounts, though they do not detail a link to specific projects. 

Rising staff numbers recorded in reports filed at Companies House are accompanied by a jump in the proportion of turnover from overseas work, from 74% in 2022 to 94% in 2024.

According to staff, the redundancy process was initially started in December after management was told of the project’s cancellation, with more than 90 people originally told they were at risk. 

However, employees questioned the basis for these decisions and say that management did not provide a scoring criteria for their choices of who would be at risk. According to the union, the process was restarted in January, with a greater number of staff allegedly put on the ‘at-risk’ list.

This account of the initial redundancy process has not been confirmed by BIG, but a spokesperson said it had ”acted in good faith throughout and with the intention of minimizing job losses wherever possible”.

”Since November, and now more than two months later, all employees have remained in employment and continue to be paid in full while we work through a formal and lawful consultation process,” it said.

“Our leadership team is committed to the continuous dialogue with those affected in a thoughtful and constructive manner, in full accordance with UK guidelines and due process.

”Our focus remains on treating all staff with respect, transparency, and fairness during a challenging period for both the studio and the wider industry”.

One member of staff who spoke to Building Design urged BIG to consider other cost cutting measures, including renting office space, pay cuts for senior staff and management, or reducing paid hours for staff across the board.

“We want them to consider genuinely the mitigation methods that reps have put on the table - alternatives to reduce the amount of people that will be made redundant,” she said. 

BIG says it has quit one of three office space leases to cut costs and made offers of employment in other offices to “several” London employees.

“Given our current activity and outlook, no amount of savings would be able to generate the activity needed to keep the entire team in place,” a spokesperson said.

Proposed redundancy packages initially included one-and-a-half months of tax-free pay, which was described as “frankly disgusting” by UAW workplace organising co-ordinator Joe Elbourn. According to BIG, this has now been increased to two months.

BIG claims that, by the time the redundancy process has completed, redundant staff will have continued to be salaried for between five-and-a-half and six months from the point they were notified of the project’s termination.

Membership of SAW-Unite at BIG has shot up over the course of the dispute. The branch claims to have 89 members at the practice, having started with only a handful when the redundancy process was first announced.