黑洞社区

London-headquartered architect Scott Brownrigg has opened a new office in Amsterdam 鈥� but the firm stressed Brexit was not a factor behind the move.

The new office will focus on corporate and technology-intensive projects and is part of Scott Brownrigg鈥檚 plan to expand its global activity. 

It will initially be staffed by three people, including Iain Macdonald, the firm鈥檚 director of advanced technologies with employee numbers at the site are expected to rise as and when new work comes in.

鈥淭his is not about Brexit,鈥� Macdonald told 黑洞社区. 鈥淲e were already here in [mainland] Europe and then Brexit came along.

鈥淎msterdam is very well connected for our activities in the Benelux region and Germany and will help us connect with existing and prospective clients.鈥�

Macdonald said the firm effectively now had four global hubs 鈥� London, New York, Singapore and Amsterdam 鈥� and the latest office was part of its commitment to expanding its global presence.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not just tipping out toe in the water. We鈥檙e committed to international growth,鈥� he added.

Maconald said just over a quarter of the firm鈥檚 100 staff in its London office were from the EU and it was monitoring developments between Theresa May鈥檚 government and Brussels over the UK鈥檚 departure from the EU.

But the firm did say Brexit was partly to blame for a drop in income in its last set of results filed at Companies House. In the year to July 2018, turnover fell 5% to 拢22m. Pre-tax profit slipped 11% to 拢1.5m.

In a note accompanying its accounts, the architect said the fall in revenue was 鈥渋n part [due] to reduced fees within the UK as a result of market pressures as Brexit approaches鈥�.

The firm said it is also looking to move into a number of new sectors and countries, including Australia and New Zealand.