I have grown architecture practices from scratch, acquired and integrated a multi-million pound commercial practice in London. Real people problems, real financial problems, the kind that come with owning a business rather than just running one on paper. A year evaluating acquisition targets for a listed investment company put me on the other side of the table too, in conversation after conversation with practice owners.

Now I advise principals working through the same decisions I've made myself. I also founded Legacis Intelligence, a research platform tracking the profession globally.

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The business of running a practice.

Succession, exit, valuation, acquisition, founder dependency, leadership transition. One issue a month. Written by someone who has sat on both sides of the table for forty years.

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Geography

Three regions, in person.

Video handles most of a first conversation. Some things still need a room.

LHR · 51.5074°N Local --:--:--

United Kingdom

Based here. Most engagements start with a conversation on home ground.

JFK / LAX · North America NYC --:--:-- · LA --:--:--

North America

Regular time in both, meeting practice principals directly.

DXB · 25.2048°N Local --:--:--

Middle East

Increasingly, the United Arab Emirates. The succession conversation is growing quickly here.

  
    Testimonials
Clients words, not mine.
Disciplined and considered, focusing on alignment, risk, and long-term value rather than deal volume.
Chris Darling, Chairman
Darling Associates — London, United Kingdom
Calm, commercial perspective, grounded in real world experience.
Yoram LePair, Founder
Beverly Hills, California, United States
Long-term perspective, balancing commercial realities with the personal considerations that come with exiting a business you've built.
Chris Perkins, Founder
CBP Architects — Nottingham, United Kingdom
Helped me step back and look at the practice objectively.
Domenico Padalino, Principal
DPA Architects — London, United Kingdom

  
  

Legacis Intelligence

The data behind the advice.

I founded Legacis Intelligence, an independent research and intelligence platform examining the structural forces shaping the global architecture profession.

The platform tracks firm performance, market trends, consolidation activity, and leadership transitions across international markets, providing practice leaders, investors, and advisors with the intelligence infrastructure the profession has previously lacked.

The platform is supported by a growing network of leading practitioners, industry advisors, and academic researchers contributing insight from across the global architecture sector.

Global

Coverage spans the profession across dozens of jurisdictions, not one region.

Continuous

The dataset updates as firms change, not on an annual survey cycle.

Confidential

Individual firm data stays private. Aggregate patterns are what gets discussed.

Published

Written down, not just spoken.

The thinking behind the advice, in longer form than a call allows.

Published

Pathway to Exit

A general business book on succession and exit planning, written from direct practitioner experience rather than theory.

Succession planning for owner-run businesses
Exit structuring, explained plainly
Written for owners, not academics

Buy on Amazon

Forthcoming · 2026

The Intelligent Practice

Written specifically for architecture practice owners, drawing on Legacis Intelligence's research and frameworks.

Built on live Legacis data
Written for practice owners specifically
Frameworks you can actually use, not theory

Get Notified

Both books are self-published. No agent, no editorial board, no filtering of what actually gets said.

Questions

Questions worth asking first.

The ones I'd want answered if I were sitting where you are.

How does an engagement actually work?

Most start as a retainer, reviewed monthly rather than locked into a long contract. Some are scoped as a single project, like structuring a specific transaction or a partner buyout. The shape gets agreed before anything starts, in writing, so there's no ambiguity about what you're paying for.

What size practice do you work with?

Established, principal-led practices with a real team beyond the founder. If you're a solo practitioner just starting out, there are better resources for you than an advisory retainer, and I'll say so directly rather than take the engagement anyway.

How confidential is this?

Completely. Nobody in your practice, and nobody in mine, hears about a conversation unless you decide they should. I don't announce clients, and I don't use engagements as case studies without explicit sign-off.

Do you take commission or equity on any deal?

The fee structure gets agreed and confirmed before anything begins, and it's set out plainly rather than buried in a contract. Ask directly on the first call. I'd rather answer it upfront than have you wonder.

Where are you based, and do you travel?

UK-based, working with clients across the UK, North America, and the Middle East. Most advisory work happens over calls and video. Where a transaction or a transition genuinely needs a room, I travel for it.

How does this connect to Legacis Intelligence?

Legacis is a separate company I founded to research the profession globally. It informs how I think about the market, but it's not a pipeline into advisory clients, and advisory clients get no special treatment inside the dataset. The two stay apart on purpose.

I'm not sure this is the right time. Should I still reach out?

Yes. The first call is free and it's exactly for that question. Plenty of conversations end with "not yet, but here's what to watch for." That's a useful outcome too.

What does the first conversation cost me?

Nothing. Thirty minutes, no obligation, and if I'm not the right person for what you need, I'll say that plainly and point you somewhere better if I can.

What's on your mind?

Facing a decision on your practice? Let's talk first.

Tell me what's actually going on. I read every message personally and reply within three business days, directly to you.

I take on a small number of engagements at a time, which means real attention rather than a slot in a queue. If the timing isn't right yet, tell me that too. I'd rather hear it now than waste your time later.

All conversations are dealt with under the strictest of confidence.

ah

Global advisor to architecture practice principals.

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