黑洞社区

Consultant Dar is planning a recruitment drive over the next couple of years as it looks to treble turnover to 拢45m.

The firm is part of the Beirut-based $2.5bn (拢1.96bn) group of the same name, which also owns consultant Currie & Brown as well as architect Perkins+Will.

Dar鈥檚 UK managing director Andrew Loudon (pictured), who spent 25 years at Currie & Brown before switching to Dar three years ago, told 黑洞社区 the firm wants to significantly increase the number of people on its payroll under the expansion plan.

Dar employs 120 people from its office in Marylebone and has a current annual income of around 拢15m. 鈥淲e鈥檙e certainly looking to double, treble that in two or three years鈥� time,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檇 be getting up towards 500 people over the next three years.鈥�

The firm specialises at the front-end disciplines of a project such as planning and urban design, masterplanning and economics.

In the UK, Dar is working on HS2 as well as some business parks in Southampton. He admitted: 鈥淎bsolutely we are small, but we want to grow.鈥�

He said the firm was looking at opportunities around infrastructure and regeneration schemes such as the 鈥淣orthern Powerhouse鈥�, the 鈥淢idlands Engine鈥� and the redevelopment of Old Oak Common in west London.

Last month Dar Group formally began work on its new London headquarters at 150 Holborn.

Designed by Perkins+Will, the eight-storey building will be ready for occupation by the middle of 2021. It will be home to more than 1,000 staff from Dar, Currie & Brown and Perkins+Will. Main contractor McLaren is set to start work on the 拢80m construction contract in the middle of next year.

Loudon also shrugged off worries about Brexit, admitting his bosses in Beirut rarely ask him about the topic. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 raise it a great deal,鈥� he said. 鈥淔rom our point of view, we don鈥檛 see it as a massive issue for our business. We鈥檙e still investing in the UK.鈥�

Dar Group was founded in 1956 and employs 18,600 staff working out of nearly 300 offices in 59 countries.