The Robinson Design Group began life more than 50 years ago in a family home on Thornton Road.

Set up in 1947 as J Robinson & Son by Jack Robinson, father of the present chairman, the company carried out engineering, architecture and quantity surveying services.

During its infancy the firm had plenty of work on its hands because much of the country's building work had ground to a halt during the Second World War.

Since its humble beginnings the firm, which started life with just four staff, has grown rapidly.

Today, the Group employs 86 people and has a turnover of £4 million.

Having recently completed a £110,000 move to new head office premises in Shipley, the Group - which is made up of a variety of companies - looks set continue this rapid expansion.

Alan Rae, who has worked for the firm for more than 20 years and became managing director in 1997, said: "We are expecting turnover to rise to more than £5 million by next year and expect to see our staffing levels rise to the 100 mark."

The firm has even purchased a plot of land opposite its new Shipley head office which it is set to begin working on soon to create its own purpose-built site.

Just one year after it was established, the firm moved to premises on Kings Arcade and upped its staff level to 11.

During the late 1940s and '50s, it was full steam ahead as the firm was tasked with stabilising the Venetian-style listed building on Hall Ings, which due to wear and tear were collapsing.

In 1956 it moved to Grantham House, Laisteridge Lane, and took on an extra five staff members.

Jack Robinson retired in 1977, but the firm continued to grow and in 1982 it formed Robinson Consulting Limited to undertake structural and civil engineering.

In 1988 the firm worked on the Financial Times Building in London's Docklands and received a number of national awards for its projects including an accolade in the Harrogate District Design Awards for Environmental Excellence.

The mid-1990s saw the formation of Robinson Safety Consultants and another award for the firm, which was praised in the Civic Trust Awards for sympathetically restoring Bradford's derelict Soho Mills.

Just five years ago the group of firms - which is made up of architects, civil and structural engineers, landscape architects, safety and environmental consultants and 3D presentation specialists - took on the name of the Robinson Design Group.

Alan Rae said: "I think our success has been due to the fact that we offer something just that little bit different to our clients.

"We are a group of multi-disciplinary firms so we can offer clients all the services they need for a project, or we can work with other companies on a scheme - depending on our clients' needs.

"From a client's point of view it is often less hassle for them to employ us rather than a raft of consultants from a variety of firms spread across the country."

The Group is made up of Robinson Consulting, Robinson Architects, Robinson Environmental, Robinson Safety Consultants, 3d.com and Horsman Woolley.

It has worked with a huge variety of blue chip firms over the years and has completed projects for organisations as wide and varied as Asda, Blackburn Rovers, Shell, Tesco and the West Yorkshire Fire Service.

One of the Group's firms - Robinson Architects - even designed the Telegraph and Argus press hall in 1981.

Other projects have included the Irish Independent's £40 million building in Dublin and work on offices and aircraft hangers at Exeter Airport.

It was even picked to redesign the Ciba stand at Bradford City's Valley Parade, which was followed by a contract to design the two-tier Carlsberg stand and then a deal to complete the Sunwin stand extension.

More recently it worked on the Leeds United Training Academy.

One deal, which was worth £10 million, saw the firm head over to the Middle East in the mid-1980s.

The firm built an army camp in the mountains near Taif, Saudia Arabia, for American giant Betchel.

The 'signal workshop', which was used during the Gulf War as a top secret listening post, can house around 600 soldiers at any one time.

The purpose-built facilities even included an all-important mosque.

Sectors which Robinson Design Group has been involved in projects including commercial, education, manufacturing, healthcare, retail and housing.

It has played a vital role in the Bradford Schools Reorganisation Programme, which has seen the firm undertake design work on 85 schools.

The £168 million modification and extension programme for Bradford's schools has been worth £40 million in deals to the firm.

The Group is also the appointed architects of petroleum giant TotalFinaElf, for which it currently designs between 30 and 40 petrol station a year in a deal worth around £40 million.

These deals, though, pale in comparison with one contract it has just completed for Global Switch in London's East India Docks.

A £250 million contract was awarded to the firm to convert the award-winning Financial Times building - which it originally designed - into a hi-tech internet hotel.

Alan Rae explained: "This was a major deal for us and was extremely specialised as it involved internet technology.

"It was an amazing project to work on and I am extremely proud we managed to complete the project in the time we did.

"I think above all we are a real testament to other firms in Bradford.

"We have stayed true to our roots and hopefully we can prove that firms in Bradford can compete and grow just as successfully as those based in Leeds and London."