As 2024 draws to a close, we’ve come together as a team to reflect on some of our best bits from the last 12 months.

What a busy and exciting year it has been for us! This year, we celebrate 10 incredible years of Fulkers Bailey Russell—a decade since Richard Russell and Sam Bailey joined forces with Richard Fulker to bring Project and Cost Management expertise to Fulkers in London.

We also embarked on a transformative journey, unveiling a renewed business structure focused on three key sectors: Private, Public, and Residential & Compliance. This shift has already driven significant success, as we secured major new projects across all three sectors, celebrated remarkable personal and professional growth within our teams, and achieved outstanding sustainability milestones. 

To top it all off, we’re deeply honoured to have been shortlisted for numerous prestigious awards, making 2024 a truly unforgettable year!

A heartfelt thank you to our clients and colleagues for making 2024 an incredible year!

As we gear up for an exciting start to 2025, we’re taking a moment to reflect on our favourite highlights from 2024.

In January, we proudly partnered with Mind as our chosen charity of the year, following a company-wide vote by our employees. With a target of raising £15,000, we set about supporting their vital work in mental health awareness and support.

In February, we were thrilled to be selected for CHIC Ltd’s new eight-year new-build framework as Project Managers and Principal Designers. This exciting opportunity positioned us to potentially collaborate with over 60 housing associations and local authorities on a diverse array of projects, ranging from small infill and garage sites, to large-scale estate regeneration initiatives, encompassing new builds, refurbishment/retrofit schemes, and cross-subsidy housing for sale.

In March, we proudly celebrated B Corp Month, reflecting on the positive changes we’ve made and sharing our plans to continue evolving in support of a better future. Beyond engaging with the community on social media, our Partner, Sam Bailey, attended Purposefest—a vibrant gathering of purpose-driven leaders. There, he had the chance to hear inspiring speakers, connect with visionary thought leaders, and immerse himself in a community dedicated to making a difference. A highlight of the event was finally meeting Andy Hawkins of Business on Purpose in person, whose unwavering guidance, support and expertise were what enabled us to achieve our B Corp Certification last year! 

April saw the start of awards season which we kicked off in style by being shortlisted for the People & Culture Award at this year’s Constructing Excellence Awards SECBE. Being acknowledged for our excellence in attracting, motivating, supporting, developing, and retaining diverse talent was testament to the strength of our culture and our unwavering commitment to our team, celebrating our core belief that our people are our greatest asset.

In May, Dan participated in Hydrock’s roundtable at the FOOTPRINT Conference, engaging in an insightful discussion on climate adaptation and the varied risks it poses across sectors such as insurance, funding, heritage, architecture, social housing, and later living. The conversation highlighted the diverse challenges and opportunities for addressing climate resilience in these critical areas.

With the government’s 2050 Net Zero target looming, many of our clients and organisations are reassessing their estates to establish decarbonisation goals. Dan reflects on our how our newly formed team of decarbonisation experts are addressing these challenges, “We are taking a strategic approach to the decarbonisation process which can be costly upfront, disruptive to day-to-day operations, and requires seamless coordination across capital projects, engineering, and maintenance teams. By aligning all stakeholders to create a well-thought-out, realistic programme we are able to deliver measurable carbon reductions while supporting long-term sustainability for our clients.”

In May, our wonderful Bristol team also took part in AJ Bell’s Great Bristol Run producing some impressive times and an even more impressive £600 towards our fundraising target for Mind.

In June, we were proud to receive further recognition within the industry as Fulkers was shortlisted for the Excellence in Recruitment and Retention category at this year’s Inspiring Women in Construction & Engineering (IWCE) Awards! Adding to the excitement, several of our incredible team members—Rebecca Tancock, Helen Mason, and Emma Lampard—were also shortlisted for individual awards. This achievement highlighted the exceptional talent and dedication of our people at Fulkers.

We also celebrated a move to new office spaces in Brighton and Manchester, both proudly B Corp Certified. These spaces embody our commitment to creating collaborative and inspiring environments where our employees can truly thrive.

July was a busy month at Fulkers with the announcement of our new Management Board and client-focused strategy, which saw us dividing our business into three key sectors: Private, Public, and Residential & Compliance, to allow us to tailor our approach to each client’s unique needs, especially as they become larger and more complex, often requiring multidisciplinary services.

Martin reflects on what this restructure meant for Fulkers employees, “Our people all play a huge part in our success and our new approach to providing sector focused teams allows employees to understand their individual impact on the success of our business, empowering them with a stronger sense of accomplishment.”

Later the same month, our new Public Sector team were appointed as Cost Managers for the delivery of The Institute of Technology at Southampton Solent Uni, our first contract awarded under the new ICF3 Framework run by SCF Frameworks! We were also delighted to be shortlisted for ‘Construction Consultant/ Surveyor of the Year (over 100 staff)’ in this year’s Building Magazine awards, and our very own Tread Setters – Amie, Dan, Tracy and Nathalie – maintained their spot in 1st place throughout this year’s Women in Property Step into Summer Challenge, achieving a whopping 801.7km walked!

In August we celebrated two very exciting new appointments at Fulkers, Richard Russell was appointed as Chief Executive Officer bringing his wealth of experience and deep understanding of our business to his new role. And Emma Lampard transitioned into her new role as our full time Sustainability Lead, where she will be instrumental in accelerating our sustainability efforts and ensuring that we continue to work with purpose.

Our new Residential and Compliance team were also celebrating as they were awarded the ‘Customer First Award’ at the Barratt Developments PLC Supplier Event recognising our outstanding management of resident relations! Leo reflects on this significant win, “Well done to the whole team for supporting Barratt’s endeavours! The restructure we recently underwent gives our people the opportunity to see projects through from beginning to end and for our clients, it means more consistency in the projects teams with a resultant better quality of service. This win is a great reflection of this, and I am really proud of my team for achieving such great things so quickly into our restructure.”

September was a tremendously busy month, starting with cutting-edge business hub – Industria Barking winning Commercial Project of the Year at this year’s London Construction Awards. Dan reflects on the win… “A huge well done to the team, fantastically led by our Commercial Director Steven Milsom. Fulkers were appointed early in the pandemic 2020, providing Project and Cost Management to ensure delivery on time and within budget. Despite challenges like long lead times and inflation, we successfully collaborated with the client and design team to bring this innovative vision to life.”

September also saw the publication of our 2024 Carbon Emissions Report, marking a key milestone in our company’s commitment to sustainabilityand supported by our Net-Zero targets being recognised by Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) (also in September!). Recognition for Fulkers continued with us moving up 12 places to 55th in Building Magazine’s Top 150 Consultants, and placing in the top 50 Surveyors and Project Managers.

Last but certainly not least, September marked a mammoth month for our Social & Charity Committee who organised and successfully ran a ‘100 Miles for £100 Walking Challenge’ for Henry’s Hills to raise awareness of World Duchenne Awareness Day, raising £2,650 for Duchenne UK. This followed a decision earlier in the year to extend our support to a smaller, grassroots cause by offering our time and expertise. We also had a team of 15 budding (and slightly crazy!) sportsmen and women take on Tough Mudder raising over £2,000 for Mind and threw a spectacular Summer Conference with over 140 people from across our UK-wide offices coming together for an insightful business update, some fun team building activities and of course a great party!

The fun didn’t end in October with our annual participation in the Women in Property South West and Bristol Property Agents Association Autumn Party which saw Fulkers stepping into the magical world of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! From Oompa Loompas to Willy Wonka himself, our team brought the candy-coated chaos to life, whilst networking with other local professionals and raising just shy of £700 for local charity Gympanzees and Mind through the sale of our very own limited edition Fulkers chocolate bars.

In October we also published our second Impact Report showcasing our progress in driving meaningful change, we were finalists in both the Consultancy and Employer categories at this year’s Bristol Property Awards and our project to deliver two new community buildings providing vital facilities in Ebbsfleet Green commenced on site.

November saw the completion of The Royal Parks Greenwich Park Revealed 4-year long project for which we provided Project and Programme Management, Clerk of Works and Contract Administration services. This flagship project to restore and protect Greenwich Park’s threatened unique 17th-century, included the installation of new visitor information boards and preparation for the return of deer to Greenwich Park.

We also celebrated our Talent Director Alex Scott winning Bronze in the ‘In-House Recruitment Leader (Individual)’ category at this year’s In-house Recruitment Awards! This fantastic achievement is a testament to Alex’s exceptional leadership and the incredible efforts of our entire in-house recruitment team. Leo reflects on Alex’s win, “It has been a pleasure growing the Residential & Compliance Team with Alex and his team. With Alex’s help we have built a very capable and collaborative unit that I am immensely proud of. Alex has developed a very slick and effective operation, but the thing that marks him out for me is his team’s continued contribution to the development and welfare of staff long after they have been on-boarded.”

We also wrapped up our month long #NationalRecyclingWeek Donations Drive for Mind, in total donating 44 bags of unused items to Mind Charity Shops across the UK, helping to provide vital resources to the charity, whilst also promoting a more sustainable lifestyle!

And we’ve ended the year on a fantastic high in December, celebrating a significant new professional partnership with Bristol based charity Gympanzees, whom provide a world of fun and fitness for all disabled children, as we became their chosen Project Managers and Quantity Surveyors for the construction of their first ever Gympanzees Centre. We cannot wait to help bring to life this UK-first centre for disabled children!

And of course we celebrated the year drawing to a close with some festive fun across all our offices, giving our employees the opportunity to come together and celebrate all their hard work this year!

What a way to end the year in which we celebrated 10 years of Fulkers Bailey Russell!