Milestones
Hyder Consulting traces its roots back to the autumn of 1857 when Sir Charles Fox, who built the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, founded his first consultancy practice. These are just some of the milestones of those 150 years.
 | 1857 - Sir Charles Fox founds his consultancy practice
1857 - Sir Charles Fox founds his consultancy practice
1894 - Tower Bridge, London, designed in part by John Wolfe Barry, opens
1858 - Sir Charles appointed consulting engineer to the Cape
Railways
1869 - John Taylor founds the practice that becomes John Taylor
& Sons
1905 - Sir Douglas Fox & Partners design the Victoria Falls
Bridge
1907 - Sir Douglas Fox & Partners produce a report for the
Channel Tunnel Company on the proposed Channel Tunnel between England and
France
1932 - Sir Douglas Fox and Partners design Sydney Harbour
Bridge
1944 – Bruce White designs the Mulberry Harbours used for the D-Day landings in France
1960s - Freeman Fox involved in the early development of the
UK motorway network
1972 - Cross Harbour Tunnel in Hong Kong, designed by Freeman
Fox, is opened
1973 - John Taylor & Sons open first office in the Middle
East
1981 – Humber Bridge, designed by Freeman Fox, opened
1987 - Freeman Fox and John Taylor merge to form Acer
1990s – Acer acquires a number of firms including Sir Bruce White Wolfe Barry and Partners and Wargon Chapman in Australia.
1993 - Acer bought by Welsh Water
1996 - Acer renamed Hyder Consulting
2000 - Construction of Emirates Towers, Dubai completed
2002 - Hyder Consulting listed on London Stock Exchange
2004 – Work starts on the Burj Tower, Dubai, the tallest building in the world
2007 – Hyder Consulting voted ‘International Firm of the Year’ in the NCE/ACE Consultant of the Year Awards
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Who was Sir Charles Fox
Born into a well-connected family in Derby, UK, Charles Fox became a pupil for John Ericsson, a Swedish engineer. In 1829, he was on the footplate of Novelty which took part in the Rainhill Steam Locomotion Trials and then became a locomotive driver on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway when it opened.
With the construction of the London and Birmingham Railway, Fox was taken on as an articled apprentice by Robert Stephenson and helped to pioneer a number of innovations on the railways. These included his patented 'safety switch' which solved the problem of shifting rolling stock from one set of rails to another. He then became a partner in an iron casting business which became Fox, Henderson & Co. Working extensively in the railway industry, the firm developed particular expertise in the design and construction of large span roofs.
When the Great Exhibition of 1851 was proposed, Fox & Henderson took Caxton's sketches for a huge glass and iron structure and turned it into reality, securing Fox's reputation and earning him a knighthood. Six years later, after the death of Henderson, Fox founded his consultancy practice with his eldest son.
