Morrison's Rum-Jum: a global player with a host of 'crown jewel' projects

THE name RMJM, pronounced by staff as "Rum-Jum", is synonymous in Scotland with the construction of the Scottish Parliament building whose cost soared repeatedly, finally costing the taxpayer more than £400 million.

Yet through the astute management of Peter Morrison, 36, a former captain in the British Army, who took over as chief executive in 2006, RMJM has become a global player with a host of "crown jewel" projects.

It successfully clinched the contract to build the Gazprom Tower in St Petersburg, while the Beijing Olympic Convention centre was critically acclaimed, and other recent projects include the Capital Gate building in Abu Dhabi and the East River Science Park in New York.

RMJM (which stands for Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall) was founded in Edinburgh in 1956 by the modernist architects Robert Matthew and Stirrat Johnson-Marshall. From a global headquarters by the Waters of Leith, RMJM now controls 14 offices in cities such as Hong Kong, Washington DC, Moscow and Dubai, a staff of 1,000, and, in 2009, it posted a record pre-tax profit of 7.9 million on a turnover of 100m – an increase of 111 per cent on the previous year.

In 2007 RMJM broke open the United States by buying over Hillier, a respected New Jersey architectural practice.

Last year the company restructured itself into three recognisable hubs. In Hong Kong the practice focuses on securing global infrastructures and is charged with winning contracts to design airports, railway and subway stations.

In New York, the Global Healthcare Studio focuses on designed hospitals, medical schools and research centres for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, while the Global Education Studio has a twin base in Cambridge and Princeton in New Jersey. As Peter Morrison is a fan of boxing analogies, he must consider Sir Fred Goodwin a heavy hitter.