Article Review: Plan to replace office complex on outskirts of Reading

This morning I was shocked to look at the news on my phone and see that Shire Hall, the former address of my old employer, Foster Wheeler, may be demolished. The article can be read in full here:- https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/24545315.plan-replace-office-complex-outskirts-reading/

I worked at Foster Wheeler from 2006 until 2014. I had intended to work in that company until I retired, but the company had other plans.

Foster Wheeler was going through difficulty securing contracts because they could not compete with cheaper Asian companies. As a result they entered into secret negotiations with Amec to buy the conglomerate.

Amec made a big mistake buying Foster Wheeler because the company soon lost money through the sale and the CEO at the time, Samir Brikho, was asked to leave in a hurry.

Amec Foster Wheeler had some rather dubious ways of securing contracts, so much so that they were referred to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). In July 2021 the SFO reached a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with Amec Foster Wheeler Energy Limited, with the company accepting responsibility for ten offences of corruption relating to the use of corrupt agents in the oil and gas sector.