Brexit has left us under threat, says top architect Lord Foster
LEADING architect Lord Foster has joined the Brexit debate by calling for the country to ‘look outwards, not inwards’, adding that London is ‘under threat’ due to the vote to leave the EU.
Foster, who founded his London-based Foster + Partners practice 50 years ago, said in his chairman’s statement to the latest set of company accounts that there were ‘serious concerns that will affect our future and that of others’.
He added: ‘We thrive and contribute to the wealth of London by virtue of our ability to attract the best graduates from beyond our island nation. That is a strength and should be recognised as such. London, wonderfully, is a melting pot for international expertise and needs to maintain that edge. It is already under threat. Politics and morality aside, we owe it to future generations to look outwards, not inwards and to positively encourage the influx of talent.’
Foster + Partners firm has employees from 77 nationalities, speaking 68 languages.
It has offices around the world in the Middle East, the US, China and Spain, and overseas work accounts for 90 per cent of turnover. The firm has been behind projects as diverse as London’s City Hall, the Reichstag redevelopment in Berlin, Hong Kong airport and Apple’s Californian campus.
During its financial year, the company gave out its first ever annual payment to its 145 partners, a year earlier than planned. The payment, £7 million between them, is on top of any annual bonuses, and was set up after the company’s restructuring in 2014, when it bought out venture capitalist 3i’s shareholding. The firm is now whollyowned by its 145 partners.
Group accounts just filed for the year ending April 30, 2017, show sales fell from £257 million to £245 million and pre-tax profits dipped slightly from £28 million to £25.2 million due in part to restructuring costs.