» The War Years to the Present
The war years saw Durtnell carrying out a great deal of vital work, most notably on the aerodrome at Biggin Hill. The firm also constructed pill-boxes and tank-traps in preparation for a possible invasion. Post-war, the company not unnaturally found itself engaged in a great deal of repair and renovation work.
Richard finally died in 1955. His death caused immense sadness not only among the family, but most tellingly, perhaps, in the village of Brasted and among the Durtnell workforce. He was highly regarded by all who knew him, a characteristic shared by his son Geoffrey, who died in 1979. Geoffrey's two sons, Richard (b 1942) and John (b 1945), together with their sister Prudence, form the twelfth generation of Durtnells.
Although never put under pressure to do so, both Richard and John elected to go into the business. John initially had some hankering for farming, but the lure of bricks and mortar proved too strong and he attended the Brixton School of Building. There he won the Acrow Award and the London Master Builder's Silver Medal and gained a licentiate before becoming MCIOB. Richard meanwhile, joined the family firm as an apprentice in the joinery shop.
By 1969 both brothers were working for the company, but when ten years later a decision had to be made as to who should take over as Chairman, it was the younger brother John, while Richard immersed himself more deeply in the management of Durtnell's extensive property portfolio.
In the next few years the company flourished as never before. Offices were opened in Warminster, Wiltshire and London and Durtnell signboards could be seen on building sites across London and in every county from Somerset to Essex. This was fine except that the scale of the company's operations was not mirrored by the size of the profits being generated!
The result was a re-think and a re-structuring. In 1984, a new contracting company was created - R Durtnell & Sons Limited - and the old Richard Durtnell & Sons Limited was re-named Durtnell Limited and became the parent holding company. The first contract for the re-organised company was suitably prestigious: the complete external and internal renovation of 'Old College' at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.
The decision to cut back operations, close the Wiltshire and London offices and slim the company down was to pay particular dividends ten years later when many builders who had become over-extended during the final credit-fuelled boom of the eighties, lost their shirts and their businesses. Durtnell had refused to listen to the blandishments of the bank and was in good shape to weather the slump that hit the industry in the early nineties. Things were still tough, competition was cut-throat and profits pared to the bone, but a combination of determination, hard work and firm management brought the company through.
Throughout the late nineteen nineties and now into the twenty first century, the company has continued to prosper, building a solid base of clients in the education, healthcare, community buildings and private residential markets. The latest Durtnell to join the firm is Alexander Durtnell, son of current Chairman, John Durtnell and currently working as a contracts manager.
Because this brief history has focussed on the Durtnell family itself, a reader might conclude that the firm's success has been entirely a family affair, but this would be incorrect. Durtnell has always valued loyalty and integrity and as a result has attracted many individuals who, by their hard work and talent, have contributed significantly to its progress. Without their input and the input of others like them, Durtnell would not be the company it is today - lean, confident, ready to meet and overcome the challenges of a sixth century of trading.
