Mash Halai, Interim MD of Bellrock Consulting, recaps his message from our energising Leadership Summit: We’ve weathered more challenging times because we’re stronger together. Now it’s time for brave thinking to get the UK building again.
When I took up my new role at the start of the year, I decided ‘transformative’ would be my word of 2025. And at last month’s Leadership Summit, I was able to outline the vision for what that transformation will look like. What can our clients and colleagues expect in the near future, and how can we help them through it?
No sense sugarcoating it, 2024 was a tricky year, particularly for the public sector and especially for new-build housing. We saw year-on-year revenue and profit growth, but that’s testament to our own people’s talents and drive rather than the industry’s health.
A changing government brought a lot of fanfare, including a commitment to 1.5 million homes per year. Exactly how we’re going to achieve that is still intangible. UK housebuilding needs to more than double over five years to hit this target. Radical planning reform and clarity on funding are only the start of what’s required. As always, the devil’s in the detail.
What we’re seeing in practice is both public and private sector organisations conserving cash for the new financial year. They’re gauging the market, sharpening their business plans, and looking to spring into action come April, after the Spring Forecast. With the recent interest rate cuts and revised growth targets, 2025 may also face some challenges.
Building on strong relationships
All being well, this will make 2025 a busy year for us. Local authorities and housing associations will need to recapture the capabilities they once had to oversee the build, maintenance and compliance of large, complex property portfolios. We can certainly guide them in that regard.
But it’s in the private sector where I expect our growth to be strongest. Our partnerships with the likes of Lloyd’s Living, Legal & Geneal Investment Management and Octopus Real Estate are solid. The expertise of the wider Bellrock Group only reinforces these relationships.
That network of expertise really is the difference maker. Plenty of people talk in abstracts about being data-driven and insight led; we’ve got platforms like Concerto and Mobiess, measurable business assets that allow us to be just that.
Whatever our clients need, we can likely provide it through Bellrock. Compliance is one standout example; we have Martech, our concrete specialists who were on hand throughout 2024 helping our clients deal with the issues surrounding RAAC. And we remain at the forefront of the fire consultancy and advisory space. In Real Estate, we are thought leaders, as demonstrated in the latest edition of our industry informing Service Charge Operating Report.
For me, this is the crux. The most exciting thing about the next 12 months and beyond. The diverse talent we have spread across our division, and the unifying mission bringing it all together. Getting to nurture that environment and help influence its direction is a big responsibility, but deeply rewarding to me.
As I said at our Leadership Summit, people are the heart of our ambitions. We’ll continue to build our success on attracting, developing, and retaining the best colleagues possible. The heroic efforts of our people are what carried us through turbulent times. Now it’s time for their potential to truly flourish.
The time is right for revolution
Right now, we work a broad range of clients including across London’s local authorities, NHS trusts, and UK’s universities. That’s such a solid base to keep growing from, and we’ve got a proactive M&A strategy to support that growth.
We hope to expand regionally as well as in our capabilities, taking steps into carefully chosen new local markets. New clients, new markets, and new colleagues enabling the journey.
To put it in numbers: as it stands, John Rowan and Partners alone is among the top 150 consultancies in the UK doing what we do. For project management, we sit comfortably in the top 50. With a 35+ strong talent, I see no reason why together as a division we can’t get within the top 15. That’s the confidence I have in the teams we’ve assembled here.
We will be challengers and disruptors in a marketplace that’s ready for revolutionary thinking. I’m looking forward to supporting that journey in any way I can.
Bellrock Consulting – watch this space!
