The company will operate as Douglas Wallace Ferguson Wheeler and the Belfast office will form part of the wider group’s international expansion plans.
Ferguson Wheeler’s Managing Director Paul Ferguson will join the board of Douglas Wallace and together with the shareholders of Ferguson Wheeler, John Caithness and Paul Graham, will hold 15% of the equity of the now combined company.
The combination of two of Ireland’s top firms creates a formidable operation with turnover in excess of £12 million, a total of 160 staff, design studios in the UK and Ireland and clients and projects across Europe. A multidisciplinary practice, Douglas Wallace Ferguson Wheeler is ranked among the leading practices in the UK. It is one of Ireland’s largest firms. Both companies already operate on an all-island basis.
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The company’s Northern Ireland headquarters will remain in Belfast while the overall group’s head office is now located in Dublin. Douglas Wallace Ferguson Wheeler will target UK and European expansion through organic and acquisitive growth. This will see up to 75 new staff come on board over the next three years, with turnover projected to increase to over £20 million. The firm will invest £570,000 in operations during that period, establishing new structures and knowledge management systems to deliver high-end architectural, design and consultancy services to clients.
The merger of these two high performance Irish businesses will provide mutual access to new market development opportunities. Founded in 1981, Ferguson Wheeler is a specialist in the area of retail and commercial design and consultancy including retail brand development. VivoXtra, Isaac Agnew Group, Dundrum Town Centre in Dublin and the Merchants Quay development in Cork are among the firm’s clients and projects.
Douglas Wallace was founded in Dublin in 1980 and has become one of Ireland’s foremost architecture, design and project management practices with offices in London, Dublin, and Galway. The firm currently employs 140 with turnover of £10 million and an annual growth rate in revenues of between 15% and 20%.
(JM/SP)
