East Midlands-based Franklin Ellis Architects has welcomed a host of new hires to its interior design and architectural teams at its Nottingham office. The firm, which also has an office in Leicester, has hired five new team members in a short space of time over the summer. The flurry of new hires comes as a result of a buoyant first half of 2021 for Franklin Ellis, and following the easing of lockdown restrictions, the company has set its sights on expanding its interior design department. This will accommodate a significant increase in client work in the hotel, restaurant and bar sectors. Joining the practice as senior interior designers are Laura Carruthers and Viktorija Perry, with more than 18 years of combined industry experience between them. Laura, who studied BA (Hons) Interior Design at the University of Huddersfield, brings more than seven years of experience with her to the new role. Her specialisms include hospitality Bar and Restaurant design and she will be responsible for handling concept and detailed designs, layouts, furniture, fixings and equipment selection and client presentations. With more than 12 years’ experience, Viktorija Perry will lead interior design projects including hotels, spas, offices and residential communal spaces. As an ‘all-rounder’ with design experience ranging from concept development and visualisation through to delivery on site, Viktorija will utilise her skills on a number of large-scale hospitality, commercial and residential projects in her new role. Three more hires were made to Franklin Ellis’ architectural and technical departments following an influx of work in the company’s pipeline – Sam Taylor and Angela Scott-Parkin who both join as architectural technologists, and Sandra Petkute as a BIM coordinator. Sam, who recently graduated from the University of Derby with a BSc (Hons) degree in Architectural Technology and Practice, has returned to Franklin Ellis after completing his placement year at the firm in 2020. Angela also graduated from the University of Derby having previously worked at an international engineering company based in South Africa, and completing three years’ work experience in the UK before joining Franklin Ellis. As architectural technologists, both Sam and Angela’s main responsibilities will include producing architectural drawings for schemes in their early stages, and managing the company’s 3D printer to manufacture physical to-scale models of building projects. Sandra Petkute joins the team as a BIM coordinator to oversee the company’s architectural building information management, adoption of digital architectural tools, development of workflow optimisation and assisting the rest of the team with BIM training. “We’re pleased to welcome Laura, Viktorija, Sam, Angela and Sandra to the team. Each bring specialist, in-depth knowledge and skills to Franklin Ellis, which I’m sure will prove to be a huge asset for the company,” said Matthew Branton, managing partner at Franklin Ellis Architects. “After the challenges of 2020 and the beginning of this year, we are experiencing substantial growth as the property and construction industries pick up speed once again following COVID-19 and it is exciting to be progressing with several large-scale projects for both our existing, repeat clients and new ones. This is a positive time for the firm as we have a strong pipeline of work and a rapidly expanding team that allows us to continue delivering excellent, high-quality service for our clients. Best of luck to all of our new starters in their roles.”