William Sydney Atkins

Sir William Sydney Atkins (1902 to 1989) was a British engineer who founded the engineering consultancy that became Atkins. Born in London and educated at the Coopers Company School and University College London, he trained as a draughtsman with the structural engineers E. Graham Wood and held junior posts at several firms, including Dorman Long, before becoming Chief Engineer at Smith Walker in 1928. He then acquired London Ferro-Concrete, a Smith Walker subsidiary that made reinforced concrete. In 1938 he set up WS Atkins as an engineering consultancy and parted from London Ferro-Concrete in 1950. He built his reputation on the design of a new steelworks at Port Talbot and grew the firm into a large consultancy. He was made a CBE in the 1966 New Year Honours, was knighted in 1976 and became an Honorary Freeman of Epsom and Ewell. He died in Woking in 1989.