Project Managers Appointed for Radford House

Ramsgate Town Council is delighted to report that we’ve appointed Andrew Hadden (AP Cost Consultants) and Michael Foley (Standard Heritage) to be our Radford House Project Managers.

Andrew and Michael will manage the next steps of a project to refurbish and redevelop Radford House, a Grade II Listed Building in Ramsgate (previously the Old Fire Station, at 18-21 Effingham Street), into a community centre providing access to activities and services not currently available in the centre of Ramsgate, whilst also restoring and conserving the historic fabric of the building.

The Council is very keen to increase our community spaces. We already offer some room hire for use at The Custom House, and with Radford House we will be able to support even more community organisations and events.

AP Cost Consultants and Standard Heritage have experience of working on historic buildings with a variety of different funders and clients, and have delivered projects that involved community outreach with lasting legacies.

The team has a wide range of experience of Project Management works including the EKC Group building in Folkestone called the Ames Building, which is a converted an existing derelict office building into a commercial kitchen, restaurant, new office spaces, and a vast amount of minor and major internal and external repairs. And in contrast, this is along with project managing the Historic England funded emergency repairs at The Clock House on Ramsgate Harbour last year.

Councillor Anne-Marie Nixey, Chair of the Radford House Committee, said “I’m really looking forward to seeing some progress with this project. Due to the time it took to receive planning permission, and our own staffing changes / capacity, this project has not progressed for some time, and I’m confident that Andrew and Michael have the skills and knowledge needed to help us develop a really exciting asset for the community. The Tenders received were assessed on quality and cost, not geography and the fact that winning bid was from two local companies is an added bonus.”

AP Cost Consultants and Standard Heritage have forged a partnership with a view to be able to tender for and deliver upcoming Ramsgate projects. The directors of the firms are from Ramsgate and have the towns best interests at heart.

Michael says: "We (Standard Heritage) had already partnered up with AP Cost Consultants as our firms have broad complimentary skill sets which range from conservation works, urban regeneration in the historic environment to quantity surveying and commercial project management. We found that we shared values and that we care about Ramsgate and our community. When the opportunity came up to tender for the Radford House Project we were ready and prepared to tender for it. We are all very excited about being appointed as the Project Manager to deliver this landmark project for Ramsgate Town Council and the local community."

The contract was advertised Contract Finder via a competitive tendering process.

Regular updates about the project will be forthcoming on the Radford House Facebook page.

Written by:
Miss Laura Fidler,
Town Clerk & Responsible Financial Officer