One of the UK's largest independent building and project consultancies has been created following the merger of Bond Davidson and Edinburgh-based Paragon.

The new £22 million turnover company will employ almost 200 people across London, Esher, Manchester and Edinburgh, as well as advise on £5 billion worth of construction projects.

Both Bond Davidson and Paragon will continue to operate separately in the short term following the merger before aligning under the Paragon brand in November this year.

Speaking on behalf of Bond Davidson, Managing Director Matthew Dunn said: "The cultures of both businesses are very closely aligned and are inclusive and high performance. We celebrate individuality, charisma and ambition.


"We pride ourselves on having teams that think differently and act quickly. We will continue to embrace and foster this distinct culture to create further commercial advantages for clients and even greater career opportunities for our people.

"We are all about relationships, so the same people will be looking after the same clients throughout. The unified brand will not have any adverse impact on our service delivery, it will only improve it."

Speaking on behalf of Paragon, joint Managing Director John Munday said: "Paragon and Bond Davidson complement each other perfectly in terms of our respective project and building consultancy services and specialisms.

"We had a larger building surveying and due diligence offering whilst they had a larger project services offering. Together, we are significantly more skilled and able to advise a wider range of clients.

"Both businesses were independently considering acquisitions as part of their strategic growth plans, so the merger is perfectly timed.

"We are now one unified team. Both companies have been seeking new team members and by combining forces we partly achieve that objective, are stronger and can demonstrate greater experience. We also expect new job opportunities will be generated by the merger."

(LM/MH)