News
24th March 2022
Perega Celebrates 75 Years
Since our formation in 1947, the small, humble London firm known as R.H. Thomason has come a long way. Numerous office moves, openings, new faces and changed names have led us all along a winding path to where we are now: Perega, a collaborative, multidisciplinary structural engineering and civil engineering consultancy operating out of six offices in England and Northern Ireland.
This year we celebrate 75 years of delivering engineering excellence across a broad range of projects and sectors.
Of course, Perega (as we’re known today) is relatively new. Keen to strengthen our focus on our people and future, we undertook a rebrand, building on the momentum of our move to become an Employee-Owned Trust. Launched in 2019, the new name and identity marked a fresh chapter in our history.
Ultimately, the changes were a continuation on the themes that have defined our narrative. Perega has foundations as a family business, and by becoming an EOT, it’s demonstrated the importance of the people who make it up today, while ensuring the company’s longevity, independence and reputation. Our name also reflects this ethos, taking inspiration from the Latin words for ‘team’ and ‘experts’, with an overall meaning of ‘with family’, from Estonian.
Not long after our rebrand, the country entered lockdown, creating new challenges for everyone. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, we adapted, firstly working from home, then moving to a hybrid working policy, allowing us to work with more agility to deliver top-quality services to our clients. With three-quarters of a century in the bag, there are no plans to slow down any time soon.
As we look ahead to the future, we also want to recognise the incredible work that’s gone into defining who we are today. So, we’ve been getting our hands dusty going through the archives and throughout the next year, we’ll be releasing a project case study every month for each decade we’ve been in business, starting with the 1940s.
Fraser Robb, Managing Director, says: “It’s an invigorating time to be part of such a hardworking, forward-thinking group of people. The world is changing at a rapid pace. We have technology and knowledge at our fingertips that Perega’s earliest partners could only have dreamed of. We’re excited for the next 75 years, continuing to find ways to enrich the UK’s built environment through engineering excellence.
“After all, engineering is about making plans work, which is exactly what we aim to do with our ambitions for the future.”
Celebrating 75 years: selected case studies
- 2020s Case Study: CABI
- 2010s Case Study: Chase Farm Hospital
- 2000s Case Study: Camberley Town Centre
- 1990s Case Study: Holmbush Centre
- 1980s Case Study: Queens West Shopping Centre
- 1970s Case Study: TGWU Offices
- 1960s Case Study: Debenhams
- 1950s Case Study: Laboratory Building on the Island of Curacao
- 1940s Case Study: Bobby & Co