Foster + Partners plans redundancies after ‘market uncertainty’
Foster + Partners is planning a number of staff redundancies as part of a restructure at the architecture and design practice. According to company sources, “under 100” staff are at risk of redundancy, primarily based at its London HQ in Battersea.
The practice said: “Foster + Partners has grown significantly over the last two years with a record number of projects many of which are now close to completion. This, coupled with some uncertainty in the construction market, has led us to make some adjustments to our practice, which regrettably includes some redundancies enabling us to balance numbers with our current and foreseeable workload.”
The practice, led by the renowned architect Lord Foster, employed 1,265 employees in its London campus in Battersea in the year ending 30 April 2016, according to accounts filed with Companies House. It has more than 1,500 employees worldwide, with offices in London, Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Hong Kong, New York and Shanghai.
The company posted a pre-tax profit of £33.4m on a turnover of £224.9m in its last full financial year, compared with a pre-tax profit of £51.1m and a turnover of £187.7m in the previous year’s results. The practice last made a major round of redundancies in 2009, with around 300 staff cut worldwide, while it also closed offices in Berlin and Istanbul.
Major projects the firm has worked on in the UK include Crossrail Place, a garden and retail development which forms part of Canary Wharf’s Crossrail station, and a new transport interchange in Cardiff. The practice also designed 30 St Mary Axe, commonly known as The Gherkin, for which the firm won the 2004 Stirling Prize.
