Cover Story
Beardwell at 40: adapting to a changing construction sector
Beardwell is marking 40 years in construction, with this chartered building contractor highlighting the changing demands of working in existing and occupied buildings as it looks ahead to its next decade.
Founded in 1986, the business has adapted to changes in procurement, regulation, building safety and client expectations, with recent projects including a specialist laboratory refurbishment at the Wellcome Genome Campus, the refurbishment of the historic Lincoln’ s Inn campus and work within an occupied commercial workplace for Red Bull.
The contractor says its work is increasingly shaped by complex existing environments, where early contractor involvement, detailed planning, logistics, building safety and stakeholder management are key considerations.
What have been the defining moments in Beardwell’ s history, and how has the business had to adapt to remain relevant over four decades?
We are very proud to have been in the construction business for 40 years, particularly when you consider how much the industry has changed since we first began in 1986.
There probably isn’ t one single defining moment. Over the past four decades, Beardwell has continually evolved, successfully navigating different economic cycles, changes in procurement and increasingly demanding standards and regulations.
The construction industry now places far greater emphasis on health and safety, quality, sustainability, compliance and building safety, and we have consistently adapted our business to meet those expectations.
What has remained consistent is our approach. Beardwell has always been a relationship-led business. We have grown by supporting our clients, investing in our people and consistently delivering quality work. That has led to long-standing relationships, repeat business and new opportunities.
At the same time, we have become much more structured and sophisticated in the way we manage projects. Design management, commercial management, building safety, programme, logistics and stakeholder management all play a much greater part in a contractor’ s role today.
The important thing for us has been evolving without losing the qualities that made Beardwell successful in the first place: being accessible and responsive, making decisions quickly, taking responsibility and genuinely caring about the end result.
What does this mix of projects tell us about where Beardwell has carved out its niche, and what makes a contractor successful?
This mix of projects demonstrates that Beardwell’ s niche is defined less by a particular sector and more by the complexity of the environments in which we work.
We are at our best when projects require
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