Here at GEA, our customer base and workload has been steadily increasing in Manchester and the North West, and with a number of our engineering and architect partners recently establishing offices in the city, we are pleased to announce we are opening a third office in the UK, on Oxford Street in Manchester.

We are often told that we are at the “frontline” of a construction project, which clearly we are, and are therefore a bellwether for the state of the construction market in general. Again, probably true to a large extent.

My name is Toby Forster, and I am just completing my first year of A level studies at Simon Balle School in Hertford. I have spent this week doing work experience at GEA’s main office in Ware, Hertfordshire.

At the start of 2003, Tony Blair was Prime Minister and was yet to have his Iraq problem, Girls Aloud had the No 1 single, London had no congestion charge, and Geotechnical & Environmental Associates (GEA) Limited started trading.