It is with great sadness that I announce the very tragic passing of our much loved colleague, Carol Rafferty, after a short illness on Tuesday 20th July 2021.  Whilst the name may not be familiar to some, Carol was the cheery welcoming face who has been greeting visitors at our Glasgow studio in Finnieston for the past 10 years.

Carol hated being the centre of attention, and as I write this I can hear her in my head saying that she doesn’t want any ‘fuss’.  However, as an integral and much loved member of Holmes Miller, she has left a lasting impression on both current and past colleagues who have had the privilege to work with her and call her a friend, I think it is only appropriate for once that the light is shone brightly on her.

Carol joined the Miller Partnership on the 1st August 1994 where for 17 years she enjoyed an active role, almost single handily, supporting the Partners and undertaking the daily administrative and book keeping activities associated with a busy architects practice. Following the merger between Holmes Partnership and The Miller Partnership in late 2011 she seamlessly became part of the larger Holmes Miller admin team associated with the new business where she embraced every role and task she undertook without question or complaint.

Everyone will have their own Carol story, but my lasting memory will be her dry humour and the annual Staff Review which I had the joy to conduct over the past 10 years. Conduct may not be the correct word. Tolerated is maybe more accurate, in the sense that she was not willing to waste her time, or for that matter my time, talking about herself. The accumulative time accrued in her staff reviews, which were held annually, was probably less than 60 minutes…one year it lasted just over 2 minutes, but I think this may have had more to do with the bet she had made with the rest of the admin team. This reticence to talk about herself, was not a reflection of her character, as she would certainly share her opinions on appropriate subjects, but more reflective of her old school values. 

Carol was thoughtful, kind and generous.  Carol would always think and give to others, without wanting anything in return. Carol loved her job and enjoyed being part of the team environment where she would happily roll up her sleeves and do whatever was necessary for the good of the business. Carol hated being the centre of attention. I don’t think we appreciated just how much until we tried to find a photograph of her to support this announcement. Silly faces and blurred images as she turned away from the camera will be our physical record of Carol but her personality, friendship and humour will be forever ingrained in our memories.

Whilst her death was not related to Covid, the pandemic and associated lockdown has meant myself and the wider Holmes Miller team have not had the opportunity to spend as much time with Carol over the past 16 months as we would have liked. For this lost time our lives will be the poorer.  Carol was one in a million and will be sorely missed.

Our thoughts and prayers at this time are very much with her family.

Callum Houston

Managing Director | Holmes Miller