Stratford’s former IDC building demolition underway as Canal Quarter plans outlined
IT was a workplace for many across several decades, but now work to demolish the old IDC building on Stratford’s Timothy’s Bridge Road is leaving former employees nostalgic. The building is being removed to make way for a new housing development in this part of the town.
The demolition of the building signals the end of an era for a place where many worked over the years. IDC, a construction and engineering company, was founded by John Baker and Howard Hicks in Stratford back in 1957.
The building was once the headquarters of IDC. Over the years, the company has undergone name and ownership changes.
In 1987 it was taken over by the chemical and industrial engineering group, Matthew Hall. The following year Matthew Hall Group was acquired by AMEC and in 2007, construction group Morgan Sindall took over AMEC.
During this time, the company was at the building on Timothy’s Bridge Road. Former employees have shared their stories on social media.
Rebecca Handsworth said: “I joined IDC in 1990 and saw the change of companies to AMEC and then Morgan Sindall. It was a fabulous place to work and have never really settled since being made redundant 19 years later. It’s such a shame the building has to be demolished.”
Toby Faulconbridge added: “I was a trainee electrical engineer there from 1989 to 1993 first time around, then I went back as an engineer from 1996 to 1999. It was a great place to work with brilliant people.”
Stuart Curtis attributed a long working career to the support given to him in the town- and at IDC. He said: “I’ve had a wonderful 45 year career in the construction industry thanks to the wonderful people supporting me in the formative years after leaving Stratford High School in this company. It was way ahead of its time and a real inspiration.”
George Cowcher is deputy leader of Stratford District Council, but for over a decade his workplace was at IDC in Stratford. His time at the building saw him meet some more senior politicians
He said: “I worked for IDC between 1982 and 1993 when Howard Hicks was very much in charge. At that time with an office in Tokyo we chased potential foreign Japanese investors before the government had woken up to the possibility of attracting inward investment. I worked with Honda for a year eventually locating their UK plant at Swindon (now demolished).
“I was the SDP/Liberal Alliance parliamentary candidate for Stratford in the 1987 general election. Mr Hicks was a close friend of Denis Thatcher and he hosted many working lunches on ‘the top floor’ attended by many Conservative leaders. I, a relatively junior member of staff, was often invited to attend the lunches to explain what we were doing and for me to be given clear advice from those considered to be more experienced politicians.”
Plenty of other people responded to say when they worked at the building and what they did. These include Nicola Scott who said: “This was my first job from 1979 to 1981, technical clerk for Floor 3, it was a great bunch to work with.”
What will take the place of the former IDC building?
The area surrounding the old IDC building is being cleared for a new development to be known as the Canal Quarter. Covering a total of 16.8 acres of previously developed land, the project will see 500 new homes built in this area of Stratford.
The area in question has been long spoken about as one for development and talk of a project goes back to 2007. At the time when the RST was being redeveloped, Stratford District Council put forward the vision of ‘World Class Stratford’.
After a consultation process, the council adopted a supplementary planning document, which set out the vision for the site. Planning permission was granted in August 2020 for the delivery of 500 new homes.
The Herald contacted Stratford District Council for the latest on the Canal Quarter Regeneration Zone project.
The council said that there are 177 dwellings from the whole of the Canal Quarter Regeneration Zone factored into the 2024 five-year housing land supply from sites on Timothy’s Bridge Road in Phase 1. This phase is forecast to be completed by 2030.
The council also provided information specifically relating to what will go in the place of the IDC building area of the Canal Quarter. Plans for this area include 323 dwellings and is part of Phase 2 of the Timothy’s Bridge Road project. Completion is not estimated until early to mid-2030s.
