FDG Welcomes New Generation of Leadership -Fairhursts Design Group
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FDG Welcomes New Generation of Leadership

Manchester architects, The Fairhursts Design Group (FDG), is welcoming in a new managing director and adding to its senior management team as part of a strategic plan for the future.

The practice, which this year celebrated its 125th year in business, has appointed Mark Adey as managing director after 25 years with the company. In recent years, Adey has spearheaded the firm’s highly complex and innovative work within the science and education sectors, and is currently leading the team delivering ‘Project Atria’, the new Heart and Lung Research Institute at the University of Cambridge. Adey’s promotion comes as Richard Sagar moves into a business development and mentoring role on a consultancy basis.

In addition, the FDG board has also promoted Laura Sherliker to director and Stevie Leigh to associate director to further strengthen its leadership team. Sherliker joined FDG in 2020 to tackle business development and design schemes within science and education, while Leigh has been with the company for four years and heads up FDG’s growing interior design team working on projects across all business sectors.

Mark Adey, managing director at the Fairhursts Design Group, said: “Richard joined FDG as an 18-year-old trainee in 1972 and became managing director in 2015. Not only has his contribution to the built environment been enormous, he has also had an extremely positive influence on our staff who have grown personally and professionally under his leadership, myself included. Richard has done a fantastic job in steering the business, and we are fortunate to be retaining him in a part-time role so we can continue to benefit from his knowledge and experience.

“Richard is a hard act to follow, but I am excited to be taking on my new position and to be joined by such a talented leadership team which now includes Laura and Stevie, two incredibly talented and driven individuals. Day to day my focus will remain with our clients and ensuring we deliver high quality, innovative design solutions across all our business sectors. Our industry faces many challenges going forward, but we are committed to the future of the business and providing opportunities for the next generation of the FDG family.”

FDG, which has offices in Manchester, Southampton and Cambridge, offers expert design consultancy to the education, science, advanced manufacturing and office sectors as well as industrial, sports and media organisations in the UK and abroad. Recent projects include the delivery of the School of Digital Arts (SODA) at Manchester Metropolitan University, the Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre in Cambridge, Blocks 19, 22, 23 and 24 at Bruntwood’s Alderley Park in Cheshire, a new master rebuild facility in Casablanca, Morocco for Cummins Inc, and an exciting masterplan for the proposed Advanced Machinery and Productivity Institute at Kingsway Business Park in Rochdale.

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