From small acorns, mighty oaks grow
It is said that by the 5th year, a relationship has begun to develop strong, deep roots, like that of a tree, providing the stable base for a long-lasting relationship. It is no coincidence then that the traditional 5th anniversary gift is wood, symbolising long-lasting strength, wisdom, and forgiveness.
Today, we at Archus are absolutely delighted to celebrate our fifth anniversary in business. Together with our colleagues, partners, and clients, we too have laid deep roots and developed strong and stable relationships.
This is an opportunity for us to celebrate our journey so far, but more importantly, to reflect on our collective impact. We remain incredibly grateful for the opportunities we have had, and continue to have, to deliver meaningful change and long-lasting benefits to our communities, with our partners and with our very valued clients. This impact runs across those major challenges we face not only in healthcare but across our wider society.
On climate change we have managed and co-authored the NHS Guidance on sustainability and actions for Net Zero Carbon. This guidance will be a major plank of the NHS reaching its commitment to be NZC by 2045 and a reduction of 80% emissions by 2036. This year will see us taking this guidance out into the NHS and supporting action plans and investment cases to contribute to this demanding target.
Coronavirus has put significant pressure on health systems around the world and there is now, and will continue to be, the need to have additional capacity in place to deal with backlogs of diagnostic and treatment capacity. Our Business Case and investment appraisal support has ensured that new capacity can be funded and delivered at pace, whether for new Emergency Departments, Diagnostic Hubs, Elective Capacity and Primary Care capacity.
Across the UK the NHS will need to rebuild post-pandemic and the New Hospital Programme in England will be a major facet of that. We have built on our work on ‘Intelligent Hospitals’ and have developed a whole suite of standardised rooms and departments that will become the central technical and design guidance for the Programme. This will mean that a whole generation of new hospitals, patients, staff, and visitors will work, and be cared for, in space that has been researched, developed and specified by colleagues at Archus.
The Programme itself and other major hospital developments will need to be delivered to challenging timescales and cost envelopes. This is where our Programme and Project Management Team come in and we are delighted to be appointed to a number of major new hospital projects in order to manage the delivery to time and to cost. Our reputation is growing fast in this space, and we are an increasingly sought-after resource in the delivery of complex and problematic projects.
Internally, we have grown our people to a team of over 80 experts. At Archus we do not want to promote diversity but to celebrate it and all the richness it brings to a team and a company. Our people power is what sets us apart and in this, we want to be an example to other businesses.
As an employer we have been focused on the need to give everyone an opportunity to progress. The Investors in People Silver Accreditation is a highlight of our achievements in creating a truly people-centric business, but it also showed we can still do more, and we will. We will continue to develop ways to give people clarity, visibility, and an opportunity to create a successful career path which has a positive contribution to our industry.
And as we enter our next phase of growth, we will broaden our horizons and spread our roots beyond the UK. We are enormously excited about the opportunities to work together with new clients and partners, taking all that we do, all that we know and deepening our impact across a global stage.
To mark this occasion and symbolise everything that we are, both now and in the future, we have decided to plant five Oak trees - one for each of our years in business so far - within the National Forest. Representing strength, wisdom, endurance, renewal and rebirth, I truly can’t think of anything better than a mighty oak to represent and celebrate our business as we turn five.
Whilst we may look different in some ways to when we started, our values, passion, people-focus and vision for the impact we might have - an opportunity granted to us only in partnership with our clients - remains exactly the same as day one, and that will never change.
This is Archus, but together, this is our impact.
