Job losses blamed on referendum and UK slowdown

OMP's Capital Dock, a 660,000sq ft mixed-use development in Dublin鈥檚 South Docks for Kennedy Wilson, one of 60 OMP projects in Ireland

OMP鈥檚 Capital Dock, a 660,000sq ft mixed-use development in Dublin鈥檚 South Docks, one of 60 OMP projects in Ireland

 

One of Ireland鈥檚 biggest housing architects is shutting its London office in the wake of Britain鈥檚 vote to leave the EU, with the loss of five jobs.

O鈥橫ahony Pike made the decision to pull out of the UK after the vote, though it has been mulling the decision since the market began to slow at the end of last year.

Managing director John O鈥橫ahony said Brexit was the 鈥渟traw that broke the camel鈥檚 back鈥�.

The office, in Clerkenwell, is likely to shut its doors at the end of this month, he said. All the staff affected have found other jobs.

OMP, whose offices in Dublin and Cork remain busy, hopes to set up a partnering arrangement with a London practice in case any of its live bids lead to work.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not shutting down the company but we decided a full-time presence was too risky,鈥� he said.

鈥淥ur strong view is it鈥檚 going to get tougher and tougher. Being an Irish practice operating in London, as things tighten up consideration will be given to local practices.

鈥淭aking all that into account we decided we should withdraw. It wasn鈥檛 a spur of the moment thing but Brexit was straw that broke the camel鈥檚 back.鈥�

They noticed things slowing in the autumn when a particularly large job hit the buffers, he said referring to Glengall Quay, a 484-unit 40-storey housing scheme on the Isle of Dogs designed with Metropolitan Workshop.

鈥淭here seemed to be a stopping and taking a deep breath. Then Brexit happened and the 15% drop in Sterling and sentiment seemed to be heading south.鈥�

In the next few days six investment managers , in what analysts dubbed a 鈥淏rexodus鈥�. and Make and Sheppard Robson were among the .

Meanwhile the opposite is happening in Ireland where the practice has 60 jobs on its books, said O鈥橫ahony.

鈥淲e are thriving here, with 9,500 units on the go at the moment,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hings have really started moving again. We鈥檙e extremely busy and we鈥檙e hiring.鈥�

When Ireland crashed into recession in 2008 and the country鈥檚 construction industry contracted 80%, OMP鈥檚 staff numbers plummeted from 130 to 20 but are now back up to 85.

The Monday after the Brexit result a recruitment agency called him to say they鈥檇 been flooded with 30 applications.

 

Topics