Another Challenging Year

2012 was a tough year for most of us and as a company Ashford has finally felt the turndown with a 9% reduction in turnover, the first drop in 16 years of trading. This year is looking much better however, with new orders already topping the £5M mark for 2013/ 2014. The line up of prestigious projects starts with The Francis Crick Institute formally known as the UKCMRI (the United Kingdom Centre for Medical Research and Innovation).

The Francis Crick Institute is an interdisciplinary medical research facility currently being built in the heart of London by Laing O'Rourke and funded by a consortium of six of the UK's most successful scientific and academic organisations — the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King's College London. The project represents an investment of £650M and when complete will employ 1,500 staff, including 1,250 scientists and have an operating budget of over £100 million.

Other secured projects include the £520M build fifty-four storey Leadenhall Building (aka the Cheese-grater); 20 Fenchurch Street (aka the walkie-talkie), the 37 storey "building with more up top"; the £600M Heathrow Terminal T2B, which will add 16 new aircraft stands and 10,000 cubic metres of retail, CIP lounges and ops accommodation as part of the £2bn investment by BAA; an £80M private hospital in Maidstone for the Kent Institute of Medicine and Surgery (KIMS); Blackfriars Tower, the first phase of the £70M development at 240 Blackfriars Road; and last but not least, phase two of the Royal London Hospital, part of the £1bn Barts and The London Redevelopment.

Finally, as always, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our staff for their continued commitment and support, without whose hard work we would not be the successful company we are! So here's for a more rewarding 2013!

Roger J Carlin
Managing Director