Record annual growth for Civic Engineers

Civil, structural and transport engineering practice Civic Engineers has recorded its ninth consecutive year of growth since the business was first founded almost a decade ago. 

The practice has reported annual revenue growth of more than 40% with a £10.7m turnover in the 2021/22 financial year, compared with £7.3min 2020/21. 

Staff numbers have also increased from 120 to 162.

Julian Broster, co-founding director of Civic Engineers, said: “Over the last 12 months we’ve really seen the benefits of having a UK national reach, with our studios in London, Northern England and Scotland, all progressing with exciting new projects that are of national significance. 

“Our appointment to lead on the design and engineering delivery for developments such as Mayfield Park in Manchester, Custom House Quay in Glasgow, and Pinewood and Shepperton film studios in London has meant we’ve been able to invest more into each of our studios, creating new jobs for emerging talent and further establishing our reputation as a business whose values are integral to the fast moving ESG agenda.”   

The business is refitting three of its four studios this year, having taken on new, larger studio space in Glasgow and enhancing its facilities for all teams across the UK. 

Broster added: “We’re proud of the talented and diverse team that we’re building at Civic Engineers. After the challenges of the last two years, it’s just as important that we invest in the working environment as well as individual learning and development. We’re now at a point where we’ve achieved a 60/40 male/female ratio across our entire team. In a sector that sadly still only has 15% female engineers, we will continue to do more around this inequality until there is a balance. 

“We now have more graduates and apprentices than ever in the business with 26. The younger team members are typically more clued-up on the environmental and Net Zero agenda than the experienced managers, and they can continue to bring their skills and insights to drive our practice forward in an environmentally progressive way. Every project that we carry out begins with a carbon challenge” 

Staff successes include Georgie Smith, a graduate at Civic Engineers (London) who started out in the practice as an intern.

She joined full-time in 2020 after graduating with an MEng Structural Engineering and Architecture degree from the University of Sheffield. 

She said: “I’ve already had chance to lead on some exciting computational designs for a housing development, as well as to research leading issues such as how to reduce the impact of embodied carbon on various structures.”

Also forging ahead at Civic Engineers is Sinead Gilmour who joined the team after graduating from the University of Edinburgh with an MEng degree in Civil Engineering. She started working in the Glasgow studio in July 2021.

She said: “I was drawn to Civic Engineers because of the public realm work they’re delivering in Glasgow. The Avenues project is a very people-focussed, high-profile project that sits at the heart of the city’s sustainable redevelopment. I’m really proud to now be contributing to it, with the design and engineering work set to have a direct impact on how people can happily connect with the city and beneficially live their lives. It’s great to be putting my university skills into practice on a wide range of projects like this, which are looking at everything in the public realm from urban street design to drainage networks. My team here in Glasgow are inclusive, lovely people to work with.”