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Susan Hodgkiss, CBE DL and group Chairman has, with the support of the board, taken on the role of CEO and Chairman.
This decision reaffirms the William Hare Group with the strong family leadership that the business has built its reputation on.
Hugo Camacho, previously the Chief Projects Officer has been promoted to Chief Operations Officer and will take day to day responsibility for the Group’s operations.
They are supported by the well-established leadership team within the business, who continue to drive the business forward. The business employs just under 2000 employees worldwide, who all play a role in the continued success of the William Hare Group.

The UK’s leading independent steel fabrication company, William Hare Limited, announced today that it has become the UK’s first fabricator to achieve internationally accredited ISO 14064-1 Carbon Zero certification.

Chief Executive and Chair Susan Hodgkiss CBE, DL said, “As a family-owned business William Hare Ltd has always been conscious of the impact that the steel industry has on the environment, and we have been actively pursuing measures we can take to create a sustainable legacy for future generations. I am thrilled by the developments we have made so far; achieving the Carbon Zero certification underpins our desire to lead by example, ensuring our impact on the environment is minimised where practically possible. This is an important milestone in our journey towards Net Zero.”

Brian Hughes, SHE Director adds, “William Hare Ltd has been pursuing sustainable initiatives and developing innovative carbon reduction solutions with our industry partners to ensure steel continues to be recognised as a versatile, sustainable material choice for the future. We have made great progress and we are keen to continue to adapt our practices to remain at the forefront of the fight against Climate Change.”

William Hare Ltd has, through the Achilles Carbon Reduce Programme, been measuring, managing and reducing its carbon footprint since 2010 – seeing reductions, from their base year, in excess of 38%. In order to meet the growing demands of industry, and to be future ready, William Hare Ltd have taken the next step to offset their unavoidable emissions to achieve Carbon Zero as an organisation.

Katie Tamblin, Chief Product Officer at Achilles Information commented, “It’s more important than ever to be able to measure and evaluate corporate sustainability efforts. We’re delighted that William Hare elected the UK’s only ISO14065 accredited greenhouse gas certification scheme, Achilles Carbon Reduce, to certify their carbon zero status and tell their sustainability story with credibility and confidence.”

About William Hare Group Limited

The Group has successfully executed projects in over 50 countries. Collaboration is key to their operations and by forging, and maintaining, excellent customer relationships the company provides superior service in engineering, quality, safety and the environment.

For all media enquiries or for more information regarding William Hare Group please contact Director Matthew Nesbit on 07786 512804 or matthew.nesbit@hare.com

About Achilles Information Limited

Achilles Information administers the UK’s only ISO14065 Accredited Greenhouse Gas Certification Scheme, enabling business and enterprises a whole solution to accurately measure greenhouse gas emissions and put in place strategies to manage and reduce impacts.

For all media enquiries or for more information regarding Achilles Information Ltd
please contact Global Head of Corporate Communications, Rebecca Bantoft on 07931 374627.

The Challenge

Environmental sustainability and social good have long been part of the William Hare Ltd ethos. We understand that our operations have an impact on environments locally, regionally and globally, and recognise our responsibility to protect the planet.

William Hare Ltd is committed to continuous improvements in eco-friendly performance, and the prevention of waste and pollution at all levels of the business. We consider the management of carbon emissions to be a vital component of our environmental and sustainability objectives.

Our Solution for Today

Since 2010, William Hare Ltd has been measuring, managing and reducing our carbon footprint through the Achilles Carbon Reduce Programme. We are proud to announce that we have now taken the next step to offset our currently unavoidable residual emissions to achieve ISO14064-1 Carbon Zero1 certification.

Using the highest quality standards and certification in the carbon market – Gold Standard2 and VCS (VERRA)3 – we have selected international projects that align with both the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)4 and our own core values, in order to offset our 2019/20 carbon footprint.

Our Solution for Tomorrow

In addition to our formal Carbon Zero certification, William Hare Ltd remains a steadfast supporter of the Woodland Trust5. We continue to invest in their drive to see to see a UK rich in woods and trees and local bio-diversity.

William Hare Ltd is developing a future strategy aimed at reaching Net Zero, and we are fervently committed to further reducing the embodied carbon associated with our facilities. It is essential that we continue to contribute to the global effort to combat climate change.

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The Architecture Drawing Prize 2019, was sponsored by William Hare and curated by World Architecture Festival, Sir John Soane’s Museum and Make Architects. The Prize embraced the creative use of digital tools and digitally produced renderings, while recognising the enduring importance of hand drawing.

The overall winner Anton Markus Pasing was awarded the prize at the annual World Architecture Festival in Amsterdam, for his work entitled ‘City in a box: paradox memories’.

“William Hare are honoured to have sponsored The Architecture Drawing Prize, celebrating the important art and skill of architectural drawing,” Gary Simmons, William Hare Chief Engineer and 2019 judging panel member.

The winners and commended works are on display at a dedicated exhibition at the Sir John Soane’s Museum in London between Wednesday 15^th January and Sunday 16^th February 2020.

Past projects that have helped shape the capital’s skyline include the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ and the Olympic Stadium roof transformation. Now ongoing developments – including The Scalpel at 52 Lime Street and the 40-storey skyscraper at 100 Bishopsgate – will both include steel manufactured by British Steel.

David Hodgkiss OBE, William Hare Group’s CEO, said: “We are delighted to have agreed our contract with British Steel, ensuring we continue to supply market-leading products to our customers.

The construction market is a very demanding one and William Hare, and in turn our clients, demand all the materials we use meet the highest specifications.

It is also pleasing that we can support UK manufacturing but we are not using British Steel sections in major projects for sentimental reasons. We are doing so because of the quality of the steel they manufacture and the delivery service they provide.”

British Steel was launched on June 1 after it was purchased from Tata Steel by the family investment office Greybull Capital.

And British Steel’s Commercial Director, Peter Hogg, said: “We’re all proud that William Hare selected British Steel to form this type of partnership, it is a great show of confidence in our employees and their capability.

William Hare has a global reputation for excellence, the evidence of which can be seen in the skylines of cities throughout the world.”

The steel is made at British Steel’s Scunthorpe site and the biggest sections are rolled at its Teesside Beam Mill.

100 Bishopsgate is a 40-storey office tower being developed by Brookfield and constructed by Multiplex in the heart of the city of London. The impressive development will transition from a parallelogram at its base to a rectangle at its top. British Steel is supplying WH UK with 3,500 tonnes of steel for this project.

The Scalpel is a 36-storey office building located on Lime Street in London. British Steel is supplying WH UK with 1,000 tonnes of steel for this project.

William Hare successfully completed the external audit to confirm that the company satisfies the requirements of BIM Level 2 to PAS 1192-2:2013. The company is the first steelwork contractor, and the first Tier 2 contractor in the supply chain, to gain certification.

David Hodgkiss OBE; WHG’s C.E.O. said; We are committed to being a world leader in the use of BIM and using this approach to the maximum possible extent to ensure optimum project delivery for our clients.

The certification comes in a long line of industry firsts for WHG, who were the first Steelwork Contractor to achieve CE Marking for both factory and site operations in the UK, the first to achieve CEMARS certification, ESOS certification and the only Steelwork Contractor to currently hold the BES6001 certification to the level of Very Good. The Groups UAE fabrication facility is also believed to be the first to achieve CE Marking in the region.

David Lowry, Business Development Manager at Ocean Certification, commented: William Hare is the first manufacturing organisation that has gained certification with us, so from our point of view they are definitely ahead of the game.

The auditor, David Robinson from Ocean Certification Limited, has commented that The staff interviewed showed an understanding of BIM in practice – it was clear that there was strong commitment to the principles of digital design and compliance with client information requirements.

Using BIM, WHG are able to economically deliver schemes using lean fabrication and erection processes to achieve shorter lead times and the highest quality standards. As a Group we are committed to the use of BIM throughout all aspects of business operations and the supply chain.

Mr Osborne praised the company and added: The economy is growing and the leaders of William Hare are telling me that they are now hiring more people and training more apprentices.

The Wigan based structural steel fabrication facility, which produces up to 10,000 tonnes of fabricated steel a year, entered administration on 17th November 2014, jeopardising the jobs of some 60 highly skilled employees and apprentices.

The acquisition has safeguarded the future of the employees; many of whom are long serving and experienced in fabrication, plating and welding of structural steel. The new subsidiary company will continue to operate from Wigan.

Commenting on the acquisition, David Hodgkiss OBE said; We are pleased to have safeguarded this quality workforce and look forward to using their capability to increase the Groups capacity to meet growing UK demand. William Hare Groups global presence continues to benefit from its investment in people, systems and capital, placing it on track to benefit from the UK market recovery.