We believe that AWW is shaped by our people; our dynamic and talented team that drives who we are and make our business successful. In recognition of this and how much we value our people, we have been looking at ways in which we can extend our ownership in AWW.

This is a significant milestone in the 47-year history of the practice, and with excited anticipation about what lies ahead, we embrace a new era of employee ownership.

Our pipeline is healthy for 2021, we are positive about the coming year and following this recent inward investment look forward to what is to come.

This positive step follows the recent unveiling of our rebrand as we continue to evolve the business to better position who we are in 2021. As Mark Alker Stone, Practice Director, comments, “it is our people who drive the success of the business and their talent that challenges us and pushes the creativity of our designs. I am therefore delighted that we can invite them to purchase these shares. In enabling them to step up into the role of shareholder we will continue to benefit from their vision.”

Director David Perkin spearheads our employee progression programme and this has long been part of the board’s masterplan.

The roll-out of the scheme coincides with us welcoming a new director to the board – Tim Forster – at the beginning of the year. Tim’s focus is on sustainability, leading our commitment to exploring alternative ways of thinking and delivering innovative low carbon design solutions. It is certainly a busy time at AWW, not only on the project front; with so many completing or just kicking off, but also personally. This is a celebration of the faces behind our work who give us and our projects life.

The new shareholders come from a variety of roles from across the practice including; finance, marketing, interiors and architecture. Each playing a vital role in our business delivery.

Jamie Butt, associate and financial controller, has developed his career and capability with AWW achieving his final chartered accountancy qualifications with us and working his way up to where he is today. “It’s great to be involved in this scheme when I am not from a traditional architectural background and represent how other roles make a valuable contribution. I look forward to growing the business in the future.”

Emma Wan is the lead architect and associate on our recently completed gateway project The Distillery at Glassfields. The main vision for the building evolves around “connectivity” - key design intents have been implemented to encourage interconnection for all within the vibrant and agile workplace. “It has been great to see The Distillery reaching practical completion and the shareholder agreement being finalised. I am grateful to have had the opportunities to work on some very interesting projects and to be involved with the newly formed AWW scheme.”

Extending ownership of the practice outside of the board is a brand new venture for AWW and we look forward to further developing and extending this initiative in the future.