In this sometimes turbulent industry, reaching your 25th year of trading is an achievement for any company to be proud of…and we want to celebrate it.
Starting back in 1991 with a handful of Clerks of Works and fellow Director Peter Newton, Tony Hickton created Hickton Consultants. Tony’s vision was to build a strong team of independent inspectors with the sole aim of ensuring that UK construction was built on quality and a strong reputation. He wanted the Company to be the ‘trusted eyes and ears’ for the client and to make sure that their buildings would stand the test of time.
Over the following 25 years we have grown organically into a nationally recognised company which still retains a culture and ethos of that of a family firm, but provides professional services to the likes of Turner & Townsend, Durham University, Downing, Select Property Group and McDonalds UK. Established in South Yorkshire where our head office remains today, we have recently expanded into London, Kentish Town so that we can easily service our network of Southern-based clients.
In 2013 Director Bob Littlewood retired and we all felt the sad loss of Director Jane Verrall. Within the last year we have seen changes to the Company. Directors and shareholders Tony, Anne Hickton and Peter Newton retired and sold the business to Managing Director Tony Mobbs, Richard Bucknell of Chelverton Asset Management and Vivien Langford of CEPS Plc who will continue to move the company forward and strengthen the brand.
The success of our company is not by chance, we have seen an increase in our on-site presence and projects by ten percent. This is due to the relentless dedication of the team at Head Office and to our Clerks of Works on site. We have invested in developing systems and a service to support our staff to ensure that they have what they need to face an ever-changing industry.
Quality and value is at the heart of what we do and this is reflected in the projects that we work on. We are proud to say that we have been involved in many prestigious projects such as: Battersea Power Station, UTC@MediaCityUK and the Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics Durham University which was designed by the architect Daniel Libeskind who was behind the design of ‘Memory Foundations’ the redesign of Ground Zero New York.
So what happens next…more of the same we hope. Our commitment to our industry is unrelenting and our mission remains the same ‘To be the most trusted construction-based company our clients and staff ever work for.’
Some interesting facts about us:
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We were appointed by Granada Motorway Services to work on their flagship project at Thurrock in 1991. For the following 10 years we completed inspections on every one of their service stations.
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Tony Mobbs, whilst working for David Lyons and Associates (now DLA Architects), first employed our services 22 years ago and is now Managing Director and part-owner of the Company.
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Our first university project was in 1992, working on the James Graham Building at LeedsMetropolitan University. Our first government project was in 1993 – John Rideal House on behalf of the Benefits Agency.
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Our first retail project was in 1995 for Aldi supermarkets.
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Our first hospital project was Castle Hill Hospital in 1995.
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Our longest serving head office member of staff Jane Knagg has worked for us for 13 years.
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Our longest serving Clerk of Works Steve Almond has worked for us for 19 years.
Over the past five years we have been involved in £6.5bn of construction projects in the UK. If you would like to gain a greater insight into the role that we play on site, or would like to find out more about how we can assist you on your next construction project please take a look at our other pages. If you would like to discuss a new project or are interested in working with us, then contact us on 01226 743959 and speak to a member of our team.
