Sectors · Architecture and engineering
Smoothing the feast-and-famine cycle in design and engineering practices.
Project-based practices live with an uneven pipeline: idle capacity when a project ends, overload when several start at once. Hexarch helps principals with the business of the practice, so that the work is steadier, better priced and easier to resource.
Common patterns
- The pipeline is uneven, so the practice swings between idle capacity and overload.
- Fee proposals are priced below the effort and risk involved in the work.
- Scope changes during a project without a matching change to the fee.
- Project profitability and staff utilisation are not visible until a project is over.
- Hiring happens late because nobody has a forward view of the capacity needed.
Where Hexarch focuses
Build a forward view of the pipeline, decide which sectors and clients to pursue, and put a steady routine around repeat clients, referrers and tender opportunities.
Improve how proposals are built from effort and risk, define scope and exclusions clearly, and agree a simple change process so that extra work is recognised and paid for.
Set up a simple view of who is working on what over the coming months, so that hiring, subcontracting and holidays are planned rather than reacted to.
Scope
Hexarch gives no architectural, engineering or technical advice and does not review the quality or safety of professional work. Practices remain responsible for their professional body’s requirements, their contracts, and their insurance. Hexarch helps with how the practice is run.
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Start with a conversation.
A first call with Philip is thirty minutes, free and without obligation. Tell him where your firm is stuck, and he will tell you honestly whether and how Hexarch can help.