WATSON BATTY ARCHITECTS REPORTS STRONG FINANCIAL YEAR WITH COMMERCIAL SECTOR BOOST

 Watson Batty Architects has reported another strong financial performance with particular strong growth across the commercial/industrial, living and learning sectors.

Despite ongoing economic challenges, including a key client, ISG going into administration last September, the Leeds and Loughborough based practice has surpassed its performance target by nearly ten per cent, achievingturnover of £3,368,433 for year 2024/2025.

The commercial/industrial sector saw the most notable growth, accounting for just over 31% of turnover. This is due to continued instructions from long standing clients such as Royal Mail and Wm Morrison Supermarkets as well as new instructions from the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Justice.

The ‘living’ sector has also delivered a strong portfolio of work for Watson Batty, contributing around 18% to its turnover.  Interestingly the general needs housing requirement has outperformed the later living and care sectors which have always been strong areas for Waston Batty and its expert team.

The ‘learning’ sector also maintains strong growth as in previous years, accounting for 13% of turnover, however many instructions were halted due to ISG’s administration but are expected to be reinstated in the coming months.

Another key sector for Watson Batty is sport and leisure where it has a dedicated team across public sector and private developments across the UK. The sector is supported by a robust pipeline of opportunities for the year ahead.

Peter White, Managing Director at Watson Batty, said,

“We are delighted to report another strong financial performance for the practice over the last 12 months.  As always, our good spread of work across key industry sectors helps us to mitigate any unexpected events such as ISG’s administration, although we fully expect the majority of its halted projects to be reinstated this year.

We have made a very positive start to the next financial year with a pipeline of great projects and as we approach our milestone 50^th anniversary, we are poised to announce some very exciting succession plans in the business.”

Recent project awards include student residential schemes on Newmarket Road in Cambridge, build-to-rent developments, multiple care schemes as well as sport and leisure schemes nationwide.

Watson Batty Architects was established nearly 50 years ago as a future focused business offering architectural, interior design and master planning solutions for all sectors.

With a team of nearly 40 people, the practice is credited for a number of major public and private sector projects including schools, universities, sport and leisure, distribution facilities, commercial, master planning, residential and care developments and transport hubs.

Clients include Algeco, AtkinsRealis, Vistry, Esh Construction, Exemplar Health Care, Royal Mail Group, Skipton Properties, Speller Metcalfe, Malvern, Sewell Construction, Wharfedale Homes, Wm Morrison Supermarkets, Yorkshire Housing, Torsion Care. New clients include Morgan Sindall Construction, Willmott Dixon Construction, Hobson & Porter Ltd and Aztec Construction.

The practice also supports the next generation of architects through the RIBA Student Mentoring Programme in partnership with the University of Sheffield, De Montfort University in Leicester, and Loughborough University.

For further details, visit:
www.watsonbatty.com
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