The blog has been a bit hot and cold recently, largely because we are incredibly busy at the moment, especially with new projects in London. I think our success story in the South East is pretty amazing and it’s really got some momentum now. We also continue to be busy all over the UK working across a wide range of sectors.

It’s quite surprising to think I’ve been with the business for nearly four months now! I can honestly say I’ve settled in very well and have enjoyed working with new (and a few previous) colleagues. It’s an impressive and efficient set up, with a very focused vision and clear strategy emerging as to how we continue to diversify and build the business. Being part of a different business dynamic has been liberating and refreshing.

Some news headlines, just in case you haven’t been following us on the regular social media channels…

We have launched a Student Living team. We announced this just over a month ago to coincide with me talking on a panel at a national Student Housing Conference in London. Within the first week we secured our first project in the sector; a 500-bed new-build development in London. More to follow on that in due course. University Business magazine featured our launch. You can see it here. In the last week we’ve been in further dialogue with a client who have asked us to partner with them in taking forward a number of projects in the sector which is great progress. I’ve also started a project with two leading suppliers to develop some new concept ideas which we’ll be promoting later in the year.

Our Group Services are doing well. These include; BIM Consult, Environmental, Visualisation and Interiors. We will be promoting these divisions much more going forward as they not only support our core business, but continue to build up independent client bases. Our BIM team have been especially busy and it’s clear to me that there are lots of companies ‘talking’ about BIM, but not that many who properly understand it. We’ve been using BIM for over eight years now and have over 60 Revit users within our circa 120-strong business. If you want to understand more about the benefits of BIM and how we can add value through using, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We have been advising a wide range of sector professionals as well as clients, contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers.

Re-brand and new group structure. On the 1st July we will be implementing some structural changes to the business. This will mark a major new chapter for WCEC as we respond to our continued growth and ensure we are suitably structured to allow us to grow sustainably in the future. I suspect there aren’t many architectural practices who can say they have doubled in size over the last few years like we have. This makes us one of, if not the, largest practice in the east midlands. A new website will also be launching soon to reflect our new image and showcase our latest work.

As part of our restructure and continued growth we are opening a new office in Leeds very shortly. This seems an obvious move, given our existing connections and client base in that city region.

I’ve been asked one quite question a lot recently; “has the move been good for you?” It absolutely has. I’m REALLY enjoying the new challenge.

So carry on watching this space. I’ll try and keep you posted on more updates in the coming weeks…