{"id":764939,"date":"2024-11-20T10:16:45","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T10:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=764939"},"modified":"2024-11-21T08:41:01","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T08:41:01","slug":"major-practices-announce-job-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/major-practices-announce-job-cuts","title":{"rendered":"Major practices announce job cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is the second time this year that Ken Shuttleworth\u2019s practice Make has been through a round of redundancies, having laid off around 15 per cent of its staff in March.<\/p>\n

The practice said it had now made 20 employees redundant and shut down its Sydney office which it set up in 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The news comes in the wake of poor financial figures published last month. The company’s accounts for the year ending 31 December 2023 revealed a loss of \u00a31.46 million and a drop in turnover from to \u00a319.2 million in 2022 to \u00a318.3 million. The practice, whose key workload is in the office sector, said the downturn had been caused by the economy taking \u2018longer to recover than expected and planning decisions [on key projects being] held up\u2019.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the latest cuts, Shuttleworth, said: \u2018It\u2019s been a tough time for everyone in the industry.<\/p>\n

\u2018[We] have had to say goodbye to 20 friends and close the Sydney studio, which has been very painful.\u2019<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, the practice founder said: \u2018The budget impact on the National Insurance (NI) has been a cruel blow to everyone in a people-based business. It means that costs have increased, which will have an impact on the ability to pay more or employ future staff, when the market changes.<\/p>\n

\u2018However, we believe that we are now very well placed to respond to the challenges and opportunities ahead.\u2019<\/p>\n

The practice will be hoping that one of the schemes to soon move forward is its redevelopment of the former ITV Studios on London\u2019s South Bank.<\/p>\n

Next week a ruling is expected on a High Court action brought by Save Our South Bank Action Group<\/a> (SOS), a coalition of local opponents of the 25-storey project who successfully applied for a judicial review.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, AJ100 practice Fletcher Priest has confirmed it recently made 10 voluntary redundancies. The company was ranked 28th in this year\u2019s league table<\/a> of the UK\u2019s largest architectural firms and had a 130-strong workforce at the end of last year.<\/p>\n

The practice\u2019s most recent accounts<\/a> show a \u00a310.5 million turnover. Earlier this year Fletcher Priest unveiled concept plans<\/a> for a 40-storey tower at 63 St Mary Axe, in the City of London, next door to Foggo Associates\u2019 Can of Ham<\/a>, which completed in 2019.<\/p>\n

Bath-based practice FCBS said it too was reducing the number of employees on its books. The company, which recorded a \u00a319.6 million turnover in its most recent accounts, had 164 staff at the end of last year.<\/p>\n

FCBS said: \u2018Like many practices, we have recently made some redundancies, including voluntary redundancies, across our four offices. This decision was driven by a reduced workload, including a few major projects put on hold or cancelled due to funding.\u2019<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, it emerged the government was looking to scrap funding<\/a> for FCBS\u2019s Liverpool museums plans, along with cash pots promised to other major Northern projects.<\/p>\n

In its October Budget, it said it was \u2018minded\u2019 to cancel the as-yet unfunded Levelling Up Culture and Capital Projects which were announced in the previous government\u2019s final Budget earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The move throws into question a number of major projects planned in the North, including FCBS\u2019s proposed \u00a358 million transformation of Liverpool Slavery and Maritime Museums, a new northern branch of the British Library in Leeds and schemes for the National Railway Museum in York.<\/p>\n

The AJ understands Hopkins Architects has also carried out a round of redundancy consultations, though the outcome of that process could not be confirmed.<\/p>\n

In April, Hopkins reported a 30 per cent hike in turnover<\/a> on the back of increasing international workloads \u2013 but revealed that income from UK jobs had dropped.<\/p>\n

According to Hopkins Architects\u2019 group accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023, the practice\u2019s fee income rose from \u00a323.4 million to \u00a330.6 million while its headcount remained steady at 180. This increase was down to a significant hike in work outside the UK and Europe, where its turnover more than doubled from \u00a37.9 million to \u00a316.9 million.<\/p>\n

However, fees from projects in this country fell from \u00a315.3 million to \u00a313.7 million during the reporting period.<\/p>\n

Last month\u2019s RIBA\u2019s Future Trends survey \u2013 the institute\u2019s monthly bellwether of the profession\u2019s workload confidence \u2013 shows that optimism has dropped among the practices regularly surveyed.<\/p>\n

RIBA’s head of economic research and analysis Adrian Malleson said: \u2018On balance, practices remain positive about Future Workload, but only just.<\/p>\n

\u2018The recent gains in overall outlook and sectoral confidence have fallen back somewhat this month. Practices are increasingly cautious about recruitment. While the north of England remains positive, the south of England (excluding the capital) has seen marked falls in confidence and recruiting intention.<\/p>\n

\u2018After increasing confidence across the monitored sectors, this month sees all four soften, with a negative outlook.\u2019<\/p>\n

Practices described projects being put on hold ahead of the new government\u2019s first budget<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He added: \u2018Commentary received from practices described projects being put on hold as practices, clients and contractors awaited the new government\u2019s first budget. Practices also reported higher-risk building (HRB) projects being put on hold or progressing slowly, with clients being reluctant to commission HRB projects, and contractors being reluctant to tender for them.<\/p>\n

\u2018While awaiting the budget, practices described ongoing planning delays, a still weak economy, and elevated (though slowly falling) interest rates holding back the sector.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is the second time this year that Ken Shuttleworth\u2019s practice Make has been through a round of redundancies, having laid off around 15 per cent of its staff in March. The practice said it had now made 20 employees redundant and shut down its Sydney office which it set up in 2016. The news …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":915,"featured_media":764955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[681],"tags":[1229,1746,1303,1154,1466],"yoast_head":"\nMajor practices announce job cuts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Make Architects made a loss of \u00a31.46 million in 2023, according to its latest accounts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/major-practices-announce-job-cuts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Major practices announce job cuts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Make Architects made a loss of 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