The firm, which has bases in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow, closed 2020/21 with a strong financial performance, despite the industry-wide challenges of Covid-19.

A surge in demand for design services offset the impact of other projects delayed due to the strictest lockdown period, which resulted in steady turnover of £6.7 million to 30 April 2021. The additional reduction in operational costs such as travel expenses created an annual profit of £850,392, with a margin of 12.6% which was close to the previous year’s 13.8% profit margin. Shareholder equity also increased 23% from £1.572m to £1.936m.

Following a restructure in 2016 where the business moved from being a partnership to a limited company, Harley Haddow has seen exceptional growth and service demand, with revenue almost doubling over five years. This year alone 14 graduates and school leavers have been recruited across the offices. Employee headcount has increased to 110 people across the UK sites and the firm expects to create a number of additional new positions this year.

Growth has been seen across all areas of the business, including civil and structural engineering; mechanical, electrical, and public health (MEP); environmental and energy; net zero and carbon reduction planning.

Net zero has been a growth area as public and private organisations recognise the need to plan now for a timeline to achieving net zero targets and harness the opportunities of improving new and existing builds to reduce carbon emissions. Harley Haddow has also recently been awarded Net Zero Advisor of the year by the Association of Consulting Engineers on the work they are carrying out in this sector.

Projects delivered recently have included comprehensive improvements and expansion of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts headquarters at 195 Piccadilly in London, the refurbishment of the former House of Fraser Department Store in Edinburgh into the multi-million-pound Johnnie Walker Princes Street visitor experience and the innovative BODYHEAT project for Glasgow’s SWG3 – which captures body heat from gig-goers and dancers to help power the venue and minimise its carbon footprint.

Marc McLuskey, director, Harley Haddow, said: “We are cautiously optimistic about the market this year and will continue to forge ahead with our ambitious growth plans. Having successfully cemented our position UK wide as one of the top multi-disciplinary engineering consultancies, our next stage is to continue to grow our brand and client base in the UK market.

“We’ve already built an established and growing presence in the London and wider English market, with a number of high-profile client projects successfully delivered including the BAFTA building. Going forward we are focusing on talent acquisition and how we recruit, train and retain Britain’s top engineering talent. We do this through our positive culture and tried and tested methodology, which sees a director led approach across all areas of the business. As we enter our 72nd year of trading we remain innovative and responsive to the needs of our clients, to who we owe our ongoing success.”