The employee-owned AJ100 practice reported that its pre-tax profit jumped more than fourfold to £766,110 in the year to the end of December 2025.
It came as BGY reduced its staff numbers from 137 in 2024 to 93 due to a ‘reduction in workload’, accounts published at Companies House revealed. This included the practice cutting its number of architects from 90 to 69.
As a result, BGY’s wage bill fell by 30 per cent to £5.7 million.
It is the second year in a row that the east London-based firm has reduced its headcount on the basis of a declining workload. In 2023, the firm had 143 employees to handle what it described as a ‘considerable post-Covid expansion’. That number had dipped by six in 2024 before the much larger drop in 2025.
In a statement, BGY told the AJ the business had restructured following a ‘difficult’ financial year in 2024 as the tough macroeconomic conditions affected the business and others in the sector.
The cut in costs in 2025 helped offset a 12 per cent drop in turnover to £12.2 million.
However, staff salaries increased and bonuses were paid to all eligible employees despite the market and economic pressures, said BGY, which has studios in London, Bristol, Manchester and Madrid.
The practice’s directors said it had also conducted a ‘strategic review’ to focus on key areas to ‘safeguard against market fluctuations’.
The BGY statement added: ‘Despite […] ongoing challenges continuing into 2025, this strategic focus has enabled the group to return to a profit across all three of its businesses: BGY Ltd, BGY-ID Ltd and Shoreditch Arts Club,’ the statement added.
In 2024, the practice expanded its London office to include Shoreditch Arts Club to allow staff and clients to work and socialise together.
Work has been secured in new markets, including interior design in the hotel, hospitality and office sectors, as well as residential and master-planning, the practice reported.
This summer BGY secured approval for the contentious redevelopment of east London’s Truman Brewery. It also won planning consent for the retrofit of a Grade II-listed former Lloyds Bank building in Bristol.
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