Back in the same year that man walked on the moon, 1969 was also the year that the chain of events began that ultimately led to the creation of Farrar Bamforth Associates! John Farrar and Elon Bamforth met when they both worked at Stevenson Developments in Huddersfield. The company was an industrialised building manufacturer, constructing sectional panelised buildings.
John moved on to Marshalls at Elland, and Elon joined him some time later. When Marshalls closed their design office, John left the business and moved away to Norfolk.
It may seem then that their professional relationship had come to an end, but this was actually just the beginning.
Elon and John return to Trinity Street, shortly before our office move in 2023
In 1974, John returned to Huddersfield and rather than take up a position in another local practice, decided to take the plunge and set up on his own. After working alone for a couple of years, John became so busy that he approached Elon to join the business in 1976, and so Farrar Bamforth was created.
After working in Elon’s attic together for 3 years, they moved to top floor offices in St Peter’s Street in Huddersfield over what is now the Botafogo restaurant. In 1983, they bought the building on Trinity Street, where the business remained until 2023. Now we are located in a very modern, open plan studio in Bates Mill; quite a contrast to the ‘attic for two’!
Elon and John back in the early days of drawing boards!
Over the years, directors John Robinson and Richard Turner were appointed and helped to run the company. The majority of projects in those early years were domestic residential: extensions, renovations, and some new builds for individuals, as well as some commercial projects.
When Tony Bowling joined the company in 1999, he soon saw an opportunity to move towards commercial markets, including housing developers and industrial clients, and seeking out clients further afield than West and South Yorkshire where most of their business was. Tony dedicated the next few years attracting and securing larger, commercial contracts and the company went from strength to strength.
The team back in 2004, featuring a fresh-faced Tony Bowling (red shirt)
The company has always been about nurturing talent and giving people the opportunity to develop their role. Having recognised his passion and vision for the business, Tony was offered the opportunity to buy into it in 2008 with a view to ultimately taking it over.
In the meantime, Elon retired as a director in 2005 and John Farrar in 2011. Tony took full ownership of the business in 2019 and was the driving force behind the office move, where we intend to stay for a long time (maybe another 40 years?).
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