Kier has secured a £99m contract from Derwent London to redevelop Holden House, on the corner of Oxford Street and Rathbone Place in Fitzrovia, Construction News reported this week. The scheme will retain the building's Grade II listed facade while rebuilding behind it, extending the block to eight storeys and delivering around 12,500 square metres of space, including roughly 10,700 square metres of Grade A offices and 1,900 square metres of retail fronting Oxford Street.

Kier has been appointed under a pre-construction services agreement ahead of the main works, with practical completion targeted for the second half of 2028. The design, led by architect DSDHA, includes a central glazed atrium, large open floorplates, operable windows and a landscaped roof terrace, the kind of specification landlords are using to justify top rents in a market where occupiers are increasingly selective. The site sits opposite the Dean Street entrance to the Tottenham Court Road Elizabeth line station, a location Derwent has been building around for several years.

Why it matters

Kier beat McLaren and Wates to the job, a reminder that competition for large, well-funded West End office schemes remains sharp even as wider construction output stays soft. Building reported that the win came alongside Kier upgrading its margin target, underlining how selective the major contractors have become about the work they chase. Derwent London has continued to press ahead with West End office developments through a period when many developers have paused, and schemes like Holden House show where the money is still moving: prime commercial space near transport hubs, let to occupiers prepared to pay for quality.

For a market that has spent much of the past two years dominated by housing weakness and infrastructure delay, a £99m central London office contract is a useful data point. It is not a sign of broad recovery, but it confirms that the commercial fit-out and refurbishment end of the market, particularly retrofit-led schemes that retain a listed facade, is one of the more resilient corners of UK construction right now.

What it means for careers and hiring

A pre-construction services agreement means Kier will now be building out its project team well ahead of site start, and that is where the near-term hiring will land. Expect demand for project quantity surveyors and senior QSs with West End commercial experience, particularly anyone who has handled behind-the-facade retention schemes, where sequencing and risk allocation are more complex than a standard new-build. Design managers who can work through DSDHA's atrium and facade retention detailing will also be sought after, as will planners and package managers used to running multiple trade contractors through a live central London site with restricted access.

For QSs and commercial managers currently on housing or infrastructure jobs where volumes are thinner, this is the kind of scheme worth watching. Contractors chasing prime West End work pay for people who have already done it, and Kier's win adds one more live reference point to that market. If you are commercially trained and open to a move into high-spec commercial fit-out, schemes like Holden House are where the conversations are happening now, roughly eighteen months before the main build even starts.