Investing in new IT for home working keeps Eric Parry in the black during pandemic

Upgrading its IT equipment during the pandemic helped Eric Parry weather the effects of the pandemic with the architect substantially improving profits last year.

The firm behind the £170m Justice Quarter in London’s Fleet Street for the City of London Corporation, which was given planning this spring, said a “substantial” investment in IT equipment “enabled staff to work from home and continue to deliver the highest standard of services to our clients”.

In its accounts filed at Companies House for the year to July 2020, the practice said it only had to furlough one member of staff when it was forced to close its office on Banner Street near Old Street at the height of the first lockdown.

The practice, which is also working on plans to revamp Bishopsgate Goodsyard in Shoreditch, said the “pendulum [was] swinging back to a new normal of the collective workspace” but added that tenants wanted a much greater emphasis placed on air, light and access to an external environment.

Turnover increased 43% to just over £8m with pre-tax profit climbing from just over £4,000 to £232,000. The number of employees during the period went up to 78, from 62.