About
A builder you don’t have to chase.
Priya and I met in 2007 on an office job in Clerkenwell. I was the carpenter, she was the surveyor checking my invoices, and she rang to tell me I’d undercharged them by four hundred quid. Nobody had ever done that before. Two years later we started Ashlar together. She still checks my invoices. — Tom
Our story
How we got here.
From one van to two railway arches, with a few lessons learned the hard way.
2009
One van, two of us
Our first job was a kitchen on Mildmay Grove. It came in £200 under the quote, and Priya still brings it up.
2012
The first Friday report
A client’s mum lived in Leeds and asked for photos every week. We’ve sent every client one since.
2015
The six-site rule
We took on eleven jobs at once and did none of them well. We haven’t run more than six since.
2018
The yard
Two railway arches on Wharf Road: timber store, joinery shop and an office with a kettle that works.
2021
Builder of the year
North London Homes Awards, under-50-staff category. The trophy holds the joinery shop door open.
2025
House 118
Elm Row, handed over in week 22, the day we said it would be.
How we work
Jobs we said no to this year.
We’d rather lose a job than do it badly. Three from 2026, with the clients’ details left out.
A basement in Barnet
Good family, sensible budget, forty minutes from the yard. Our site manager would have spent the job in traffic, so we passed it to a firm in Finchley we trust.
A kitchen by Christmas
Six weeks, starting in mid-November. It can be done, but not properly, and we’d rather lose the job than rush the plaster.
A loft without building control
Their last builder told them they could skip it. They can’t, and it would have caught up with them the day they sold.
The yard · 14 Wharf Road, N1
Come and touch
the materials.
Two railway arches where Sean makes the staircases and we keep reclaimed brick and limestone. Come and handle the finishes before you choose them, and bring the kids if you like. Nelson, the yard dog, will want to say hello.
The team
The people you’ll actually meet.
These are the people who price, plan and build your house. You’ll have their numbers from the first week.
+ 21 more
All on our payroll, most of them for more than five years.
- Site managers 5
- Carpenters & joiners 9
- Bricklayers 4
- Decorators 2
- Office manager 1
We’re hiring
Site manager, north London
Full-time · £58k–£65k · van and tools included · apprenticeships every September