2025 was a year of progress and achievements that strengthened communities and partnerships.

We began the year hearing from our Managing Director, Matthew Self, setting the tone for innovation and growth. In the East Midlands, work commenced on a £5 million children’s home, alongside celebrations for new facilities at Harpur Hill Primary and Tibshelf Community School.

Across the East of England, we started worked to expand Melton Primary School’s early years provision, opened the Autism Centre of Excellence at Stratton School, and marked the reopening of Otley Primary School. We delivered a state-of-the-art Fire Control Room and the £12.8 million Ipswich Ambulance Hub, enhancing community safety.

Sustainability remained a priority with Suffolk County Council’s first net-zero-in-operation school at Lakenheath Primary starting on site and the completion of the Nexus development in Lowestoft. We embraced Biodiversity Net Gain and our £32 million Walsall Household Waste Recycling Centre was shortlisted for the RIDBA Awards.

We were appointed to Fusion21’s Construction Consultancy Services Framework, and advanced new Pharmacy and Library facilities, while completing East Anglia’s first Esports Hub for the University of Suffolk.

We celebrated Vertas Group’s King’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development, a top three ranking in Suffolk Ltd.’s 2025 Top 100 and the Group’s efforts in raising over £25,000 for Cancer Research UK.

In 2024, Concertus was successfully appointed to the Procure Partnerships Professional Framework covering the East Midlands, East of England, and London.

Project milestones took place, with celebrity appearances from British Illustrator and Author Charles Mackesy OBE and Popstar Tom Grennan. We successfully received planning for the first Net Zero in operation school in Suffolk.

New SEND facilities were delivered across Derbyshire, Bedfordshire, and Suffolk, with new units created or existing facilities remodelled. These developments foster social inclusion, helping to prevent isolation and create opportunities for pupils to learn and grow alongside their peers.

We hosted our first Meet the Buyer event for the Suffolk County Council Construction and Building Services Framework, bringing together over 100 local suppliers. This was followed by a Social Value Engagement event highlighting the Council’s priorities.

Following the completion of a new Dentistry Training Hub in Ipswich, Concertus was awarded a six-year contract with the University of Suffolk. Focusing on regenerating its current estate, the new partnership aims to support the University’s growth plans until 2030.

Our industry partnership with Suffolk New College went from strength to strength as we led the way for career talks and workshops to support T-level students. We celebrated our colleagues’ successes while developing and introducing new services. As part of a Group social value initiative, Exec Experiences, we raised an incredible £23,000.00 for Cancer Research UK.

In 2023, Concertus successfully launched Suffolk County Council’s new Construction and Building Services Framework worth £500m. The framework will be operational for four years, from 1st June 2023 to 31st May 2027.

The New School Places program of Central Bedfordshire included the construction of the Houstone School, which cost £22.5 million and welcomed pupils for the first time. The state-of-the-art learning environment has had a significant impact on local children and will continue to do so for generations to come. Morgan Sindall and Concertus were also appointed to deliver Suffolk’s first Net Zero primary school in Lakenheath.

Concertus Design & Property Consultants hired Tom Marshall as their Operations Director, and their works at Belper School & Sixth Form Centre, Anthony Gell School, and Wirksworth Junior School generated over £235,000 in social value. This helped to boost employment and the local economy. Furthermore, the company delivered one permanent and two temporary modular builds at Mickley Village Primary & Nursery School, Chellaston Fields Spencer Academy, and Bramley Vale Primary School.

Mildenhall Hub was awarded the Award for Excellence in Architectural Technology – large to mega category at the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT) awards.

In 2022, Vertas Group Limited, Concertus Design and Property Consultants Limited and Opus People Solutions Limited began trading as the Vertas Group.

Mildenhall Hub was successful in being named the best public sector project in the East of England by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The national exemplar project also won project of the year in the Government Property Awards and won the Commercial Building category at the RIBA Craftsmanship Awards.

Concertus Design & Property Consultants were delighted to have supported Central Bedfordshire Council in the procurement of its new four-year Construction Framework. Our team managed the process with the Council’s Procurement and Capital Construction Team to successfully select 24 key contractors with the right credentials and abilities to support the long-term construction aspirations of Central Bedfordshire Council. We also successfully handed over Harrington Junior School and Glossopdale Community College to Derbyshire County Council following the completion of works.

Concertus, alongside the wider Vertas Group, announced a partnership with Planet Mark – who is a sustainability consultant – to support our commitment to Net Zero. The Planet Mark programme has enabled us to set and deliver a credible Net Zero plan as we continue our journey to becoming Net Zero.

Our office in Matlock opened in 2021 and the new website launched.

New leadership and team structures were implemented at the start of the year, enabling us to meet our clients’ needs whilst geographically diversifying our client base and framework agreements.

Concertus were pleased to be appointed to Fusion21’s national £120m Consultants Framework, achieve Best Employer Gold accreditation, and be recognised in a number of awards. Highfields Spencer Academy was successful in the Constructing Excellence Awards, Sir Bobby Robson School was Highly Commended in CIAT’s Award for Excellence in Architectural Technology category in the AT Awards, Mildenhall Hub was selected as a Regional Finalist in the Civic Trust Awards, and The Hold won the Community category award at the SPACES Awards.

The Duke of Gloucester officially opened The Hold on 14th September 2021. As well as being mentioned in the local press, the event also featured on the Royal Family’s Twitter page!

We continued to expand our team as part of our growth plans.

In September we welcomed our new colleagues in Matlock. It has been a joy to see the Concertus family grow and to open a second office.

We were extremely proud to be awarded Investors in People Gold accreditation and Silver accreditation for ‘We invest in Wellbeing’.

Another success story of 2020 was securing a place on the Procure Partnerships Framework. This framework will support our business delivery from Ipswich and Matlock.

We were pleased to be appointed to the Central Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire LGSS, Milton Keynes, ESPO (Estates), and PAGABO frameworks in 2019.

We achieved Cyber Essentials and ISO 45001 certifications as well as becoming a member of the Institute of Customer Service.

We were delighted to receive the award for The Best Employers Eastern Region – Best Overall Large Company and Platinum Accreditation, which highlighted Concertus as a great place to work.

Other successes during 2018 included winning a place on the ESPO (Management) framework and raising nearly £2,500 for AMEND UK and Selig Suffolk, in our charity skydive event.

We moved into our new head office at Friars Bridge Road in 2017. This was an exciting and significant stage for us which gave us the freedom to develop our brand identity.

Our team are dedicated to supporting local charities and communities. In 2017 Andrew Rowe, our MD, drew the short straw when he agreed to be ‘arrested’ for a local charity, Home Start! Luckily the team raised enough money to pay his bail!

In 2016 we were pleased to welcome Andrew Rowson to the board of Directors as Non-Executive Director and congratulate Sarah Cossey on her promotion to Executive Finance Director.

Acquiring The Energy Practice was an exciting step for us. In addition to new colleagues, the acquisition allowed us to develop further our specialisms and increase our opportunities for larger projects. Two of our projects were shortlisted for RICS Awards during this year.

During the summer of 2015, we offered 500 hours of work experience to students in the local community. Our employees are passionate about helping young individuals enter a career in our industry, and since divestment have helped support over 100 trainees through their academic courses, professional development and chartership.

Throughout 2015 we continued to extend our client base and broaden our portfolio of work across a greater range of sectors and covering a wider geographical reach. We were thrilled to find out that our project, The Brandon Centre, was an Eastern Regional Finalist in the 2015 Civic Trust Awards.

Just one year into our journey, we were proud to announce that we had been recognised as one of the sector’s top 50 employers in the UK in the Building Good Employer Guide.

Concertus have always been committed to training and development opportunities, and in 2014 we took on board our first four apprentices.

Our journey began in 2013 with our divestment from Suffolk County Council. Sixty employees formed the Concertus family and our collaborative approach is still as strong today as it was in 2013.

In November 2013, we were awarded our first certifications: ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. These accreditations have ensured our business always meets high standards of quality and sustainability.