Turnover grew by nearly a third to £9.9 million, according to the latest annual accounts which also revealed the company switched to an employee ownership trust during the reporting period. Fees per earner grew 18 per cent from £106,180 to £124,869.
The company’s cash at the year-end stood at £640,000, while net assets fell to £1.8 million, down from £4.2 million a year previously.
Piercy & Company said this was due to shifting its ownership structure to become an employee ownership trust, rather than being down to operational performance.
The practice came 57th in the AJ100 league table for 2023. Though the number of qualified architects at the firm remained flat, at 46, the overall headcount rose from 87 to 101.
Major projects include extending and reworking SOM’s 1 Appold Street, Regent Quarter in King’s Cross and the Network building north of Oxford Street. Company bosses said they also wanted to expand into life science buildings as part of a push to diversify projects in case of an economic downturn.
In 2023 Piercy and Company completed a refurbishment of SOM’s Exchange House in the City. It also got planning permission to knock down Telephone House in Shoreditch, the AJ’s former offices, to rebuild an office-led scheme.
Commenting on the results, Stuart Piercy, the company’s director, said: ‘Despite the continuing post-Brexit uncertainty and the economic downturn, the company has had another good year.
‘Turnover remained strong and full teams have been maintained, which is a reflection of the volume of work across different construction stages.’