Fit-out specialist dismisses Brexit slowdown as turnover jumps 50%
London-based fit-out firm BW has said Brexit is having no impact on its business at all, as it reported annual turnover has hit 拢150.9m, a hike of 50%.
BW: Workplace Experts, based in the City of London, has said it is on track to hit its target of 拢250m turnover by 2020. Its operating profit leaped 110% to 拢4.1m for the year ending 31 December 2017.
Anthony Brown, the firm鈥檚 sales and marketing director, said BW鈥檚 growth is due to tech companies wanting top end offices as a recruiting sergeant for skilled workers, as well as a recent uptick in work outside London, in particular in the Cambridge to Oxford corridor and in Southampton.
He said: 鈥淭he main driver for growth in fit-out is recruitment - we鈥檝e seen huge growth in London from tech companies over the last few years.
鈥淓veryone is fighting hard for a small pool of talent, and a lack of grade A office space - vacancy rates are the lowest they鈥檝e been - means that firms have to invest to make their workplace a differentiator.
鈥淭he growth outside London is expected as London expands and commuting is cumbersome - we might see a position where 30-40% of our work is in the Home Counties.鈥�
Brown said he has been surprised that Brexit was having no impact on business.
He said: 鈥淚f you鈥檇 asked me a year ago, I thought we would see things tailing off - this has been a phenomenal year. We鈥檙e even seeing growth in the banking sector.
鈥淏rexit is so undetermined at the moment that people are carrying on with their plans.鈥�
He added: 鈥淲e only need about 拢3m this year to hit the 拢200m mark. We鈥檝e grown our workforce by over 100 in the year [to just over 250].鈥�
On future plans, Brown said there is an 鈥渁ppetite for a third firm in the London fit-out market鈥� behind the two big players in the sector, Morgan Sindall-owned Overbury and ISG.
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