Worth School is a prominent independent boarding school in Crawley, providing daily catering for its students and staff. In January 2025, a fire within the Grade II-listed Rutherford House Building caused extensive damage to the school’s main kitchen, affecting food preparation areas, storage facilities, the refectory, and nearby offices.
Barker was appointed to support the school through the reinstatement process, delivering a professional service from initial safety measures through to reconstruction and handover.
With its primary catering hub out of action, the school needed a swift and reliable route to reinstatement. The goal was to restore the kitchen to full operation as quickly as possible while ensuring the rebuilt facilities met compliance standards and matched the quality of the original space.
Barker was selected based on our expertise in managing urgent works on live education estates, our experience working in heritage and conservation, and our ability to collaborate effectively with McLarens, the school’s loss adjusters. Our commission included defining the reinstatement scope, issuing and managing the tender process, appointing a contractor, and overseeing the works.
The immediate challenge was ensuring the building was safe and compliant following the fire, requiring urgent assessment, isolation and protection measures. Once stabilised, the fire-damaged areas needed extensive specialist cleaning before any reinstatement work could begin.
Coordinating multiple parties – loss adjusters, contractors, insurers and school staff – added complexity, particularly within a live boarding environment where safeguarding and continuity of operations were essential.
Barker provided structured project leadership, clear communication and robust programme management to keep the project progressing at pace despite these pressures.
The reinstated kitchen was successfully handed over in November 2025, allowing Worth School to resume full catering operations for students and staff.
The restored facilities now offer a safe, compliant and modernised environment. The school reported strong satisfaction with the speed, clarity and professionalism of Barker’s approach during a challenging period.
