Last updated 11th May 2023
Cundall Johnston and Partners LLP
Cundall is a UK-based gobal, multi-disciplinary engineering and design consultancy that was founded in 1976 and originally based in Edinburgh and Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Today, Cundall has six UK offices and also operates from 16 international offices across Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Continental Europe. After expanding in recent years, the firm has 43 ‘members’ and a total staff of 992 and around half its turnover is from overseas. Recent new office openings include Bristol in the UK and Riyadh.
The firm”s engineering consultancy services cover the life cycle of a building using a ‘total solutions’ approach with multi-disciplinary services based around building services engineering, civil engineering, structural engineering and sustainable design. Sectors where Cundall works include aviation, critical systems, education, government, healthcare, industrial, lifestyle, master-planning and infrastructure, residential, retail and workplace.
Cundall has worked on many flagship projects ranging from facilities for the 2012 Olympic Games to Facebook’s London hq. It worked on Google”s new hq at 6 Pancras Sqaure and at the landmark City office project at 21 Moorfields. Other landmark schemes where the firm has worked include providing building services engineering for British Airways” Waterside Building and on the luxury residential scheme at One Hyde Park.
The firm has a strong track record on sustainability and also in the public sector. Having achieved net zero as a business, Cundall is aiming to deliver net zero carbon design on all its projects by 2030.
In its latest annual report published in late December 2022, the firm said it was continuing to see improved activity in most of its global businesses and it was expanding into new global locations.
Meanwhile, Cundall was named ‘Engineering Consultant of the Year’ for the second year running at the Building Awards 2022.
Financials
To view the financials for Cundall Johnston and Partners LLP visit Companies House and use Company OC 300389.
Cundall performed strongly in the year to end-June 2022 and registered record levels of profit and staff employment. Turnover at the firm rose to £79.7 million from £67.8 million previously and profits before tax (and members” remuneration and profit shares) rose to £10.79 million from £8.66 million previously. Meanwhile, the profit available for division among the members stood at £9.8 million, up from £7.8 million previously. The group had cash of £19.94 million, down from £22.4 million. Meanwhile, the group’s global turnover was split between the UK (£40.1 million), Middle East and north Africa (£6.2 million), Australia and Far East ((£16.3 million), Americas (£0.5m), Rest of Europe (£15.6m) and Rest of World (£0.29m)
Operations
Cundall has its registered head office in Newcastle and other offices in Belfast, Birmingham, Edinburgh, London, Manchester and Bristol. The group has been expanding overseas and now works through offices across the world and across a range of disciplines and sectors. Cundall’s overseas offices are in Doha, Dubai, Tripoli, Riyadh; Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Brisbane; Dublin, Bucharest, Warsaw, Wroclaw and Madrid and in the Far East, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.
In spring 2022 Cundall was appointed to provide engineering on the new Kingston Leisure and Community Building, one of the largest and most significant leisure facilities currently planned in the UK. It forms part of Kingston Council”s Transform Programme to revitalise the historic town centre.
The drive for net zero is a common thread in much of the group’s new business. In April 2023 Cundall was appointed to provide building services, acoustics, fire engineering and sustainability consultancy services to Beormund School a new build primary school in Southward for children with social, emotional, and mental health needs to be built on a net zero carbon scheme.
In April 2023, two fit-out projects which Cundall worked closely on were winners in the BCO London Awards. The scheme at Diageo won in the Best Fit-out Workplace category and EBRD hq was given the ESG award.
Earelier, in autumn 2022 work was completed on The Cairn, the first new-build whiskey distillery in the Cairngorms National Park and where Cundall provided civil, structural, geotechnical and building services engineering, along with transport and sustainability consulting.
Cundall has also recently worked with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as decarbonisation consultants on the restoration of Kew”s Palm House involving lower energy heating systems as part of its sustainability strategy.
Cundall”s projects have included providing structural, civil engineering and BREEAM services on the redevelopment of The All England Lawn Tennis Club’s Somerset Road covered courts where it worked with Hopkins Architects.
Overseas, Cundall is part of a consortium that will deliver the Greater Muscat Structure Plan in Oman to provide a more focused spatial development strategy for the 1360 sq m city. Cundall will focus on the city-wide utility infrastructure, with an emphasis on renewable technology and the water lifecycle.
Glenigan data
Glenigan data points to a busy time for Cundall in early 2023. It shows that the firm is the M &E consultant on a new £57 million school, The Bedelands Academy for West Sussex County Council, where work is set to start in late spring 2023 (Project ID: 22313945). In the commercial sector, Glenigan data also shows that Cundall is the M&E and acoustic consultant on the £25 million JD Sports Campus Hub – Zone 1 & 2 in Bury in Greater Manchester, where work is due to start in late summer 2023 (Project ID: 22276702).
Conclusion: Benefitting from net zero and a wide spread of operations
Cundall is one of the UK”s leading multi-disciplinary consulting engineers and is faring well as net zero and sustainability move up the business and political agenda. The firm has a blue chip client list and a good spread of national offices – recently expanded to includ Bristol – working across numerous sectors. Meanwhile, its experience and scope for offering a range of integrated engineering services across its various disciplines is serving it well at home and overseas. The firm”s services are likely to remain in demand as it takes advantage of bright prospects in key sectors such as net zero, ESG and through its longstanding experience in sustainability. Overseas growth, particularly in the Middle East, is also on the agenda.
Winning Work With Cundall
Cundall has a sustainability policy centred on four key areas that are central to group procurement and specification. Business – monitoring and reducing direct impacts by group activities, such as energy, travel and paper; People and community – giving Cundall staff the skills and enthusiasm to deliver sustainable solutions and making a positive impact on communities; Projects – reducing the environmental impact of the buildings being designed by Cundall and Leadership – actively involved in Cundall staff shaping the built environment for the future.
Key Cundall contacts include:
Jonnie Allen – Partner, Marketing and Business Development
Tel: 0207 438 1600
Tomás Neeson, Managing Partner, Building Services
0191 213 1515