About us

As an employee-owned company, London Bridge Associates has no external shareholders – quite simply, this is our company and we work for each other.

London Bridge Associates Ltd was founded in 2000 by Bob Ibell, David Sharrocks, Bob Allen, Terry Crabb, Frank Ellis, Harry Glennie, John Keys, John Northfield and Graham Walker. All had been working for Taylor Woodrow but in 1999, when TW restructured and exited from most civil engineering work, the seven decided to form a company, offering their wide range of knowledge and experience to tunnelling contractors and consultants.

One of the key principles when LBA was founded was that of staying in control of our destiny, focusing on providing work and development opportunities for our employees. Nobody can be a shareholder of LBA unless also an employee of the company.

We resolved to be a consultant with a difference – committed to delivering value at all times and being prepared to tell our client if we came to the point where we were unable to deliver further value. We also recognised that we could offer Contractors a service that would help them win bids and deliver projects without carrying the overhead of a permanent tunnelling team.

This meant we needed to be immersed in the industry, understand our clients’ drivers, build relationships and encourage our team to do the same. Happily, this is not a hardship for our team – if you have ever met any people from LBA, you’ll probably have been struck by their enthusiasm and their passion for their industry!

Our early commissions included CTRL C240 (now known as HS1), the Dublin Port Tunnel, refurbishment of the M25 Holmesdale Tunnel and the Brighton & Hove Wastewater project. Our commissions today are equally varied and include HS2, Crossrail, Hinkley Point C Marine Works, York Potash, MetroLink in Dublin, fire assurance, CDM expertise and many more.