UK to USA: Is It Time to Take Your QS Career Overseas? | Lionel Dore of Port Cullis LLC Ep 55
What are the scale and scope of accommodation projects in Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 developments?
Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 theme park developments are among the largest hospitality infrastructure projects in the region, encompassing approximately 25,000 accommodation units overall for staff. When Lionel Dore stepped back from the commercial oversight of this program, 1,800 units were actively under construction with another 3,000 to 4,000 in various stages of planning and pipeline.
A transformation mirroring Dubai's earlier trajectory
The scale of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 accommodation strategy reflects the ambition driving the entire development corridor. As Lionel Dore explains in the episode , these theme park projects are attracting significant foreign investment and international expertise, positioning the country as a major hospitality and tourism hub.
The 25,000-unit total represents a commitment to worker accommodation that goes beyond typical hospitality development—it signals how seriously the Saudi government is treating the infrastructure needed to support massive international construction activity. Unlike smaller hotel or resort projects, this workforce housing model ensures continuity and operational stability for the vast construction teams required across multiple sites.
The 1,800 units in active construction at the time Dore left the role demonstrate the velocity of the program. Additional details about how these projects integrate with the broader Vision 2030 strategy and the construction timelines involved are explored further in the full podcast conversation .
Lionel Dore — Founder, Port Cullis LLC. Lionel spent 24 of his 25 years in London working at Davis Belfield and Everest, Davis Langdon, and eventually became a partner at Davis Langdon and Acom. His father was also a Quantity Surveyor at Davis Belfield and Everest. After his London career, he relocated to Dubai for five years working in retail as regional director for Acom and Atkins, then moved to Orlando in 2013 where he purchased and operated a roofing business, later worked as construction director for a housing developer, and subsequently joined BTY as director overseeing large infrastructure projects including airports, toll roads, and light rail.
Dore's direct involvement with the commercial side of these accommodation projects gives his assessment credibility rooted in hands-on experience. The 3,000 to 4,000 units in the pipeline signal continued expansion, suggesting that Vision 2030 developments may push the total beyond the 25,000-unit baseline as projects progress. Understanding the full scope of this workforce strategy—and how it compares to similar mega-projects elsewhere— is addressed in depth in the episode .
How does working in Saudi Arabia compare to Dubai for construction professionals?
Saudi Arabia now occupies the position Dubai held a few years ago, offering greater earning potential than Dubai currently provides , but access is far more restricted. Unlike Dubai's earlier open-door era, you cannot simply arrive expecting to find work as a QS or PM—recommendations from past collaborators are essential. The tradeoff: exceptional career-building projects against consultancy schedules of 8 to 6, five days a week, with social infrastructure still catching up to rapid population growth.
The shift reflects broader market dynamics. Where Dubai once welcomed international talent freely, Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 development agenda has created intense demand for construction expertise, but hiring remains deeply networked. As discussed in the episode , the caliber of projects—infrastructure running from $400 million to $4–5 billion in scope—rivals the best opportunities London offers, making the market attractive despite its constraints.
Opportunity without open access
The hiring model in Saudi Arabia is fundamentally different from Dubai's earlier phase. You need proven relationships with people already embedded in projects , not a strong CV and the hope of a response. This is particularly acute for senior roles; a point detailed in this podcast , where networking becomes as critical as experience.
Projects themselves are world-class. The Riyadh metro's first leg is complete, and the Royal Commission for Alula is driving immense cultural and infrastructure development across the western region. Consultants working on these assignments gain resume credentials that open doors globally—a significant career advantage if you can secure entry through the right referral.
The living reality: Hours, weekends, and infrastructure lag
Day-to-day life differs notably from Dubai's maturity. Consultancy hours run 8 am to 6 pm, Monday to Friday , with Friday and Saturday as the weekend—a schedule that mirrors Gulf practice but differs from Western norms. The workweek is long and structured, leaving limited flexibility.
Social infrastructure has not yet caught up with the influx of professionals. Accommodation, dining, entertainment, and healthcare ecosystems are developing rapidly but lag behind what expatriates experienced in Dubai 15–20 years in. Approximately 25,000 accommodation units are planned for theme park staff in the wider region, signaling recognition of the gap, but the current reality requires patience and adjustment.
"You're going to get very few jobs through putting a CV into a job application—they want recommendations from the people you'll likely be working with."
Lionel Dore — Founder, Port Cullis LLC; former partner at Davis Langdon and Acom in London, where he spent 24 of his 25 years in the UK before relocating to the Gulf. His career spans Davis Belfield and Everest through to leadership roles managing $4+ billion infrastructure projects across airports, toll roads, and light rail systems.
For professionals considering the move, the decision hinges on whether premium earning potential and elite project experience justify the networked entry barrier and developing lifestyle infrastructure. The window of opportunity mirrors Dubai's golden era—high intensity, rapid growth, and transformative projects—but access remains gatekept by relationship. Hear more context in the full conversation on how to position yourself for Gulf opportunities.
How does senior-level job placement in construction differ from entry-level recruitment?
At senior levels, you won't secure positions by submitting CVs to job boards. Instead, employers want recommendations from people they'll actually work with, backed by proven track records of success. Personal relationships and trust from past collaborators become the decisive factor in landing senior roles.
The CV Problem at Senior Level
In entry-level construction recruitment, a well-crafted CV and job application can open doors. The hiring process is relatively standardized: you apply, your qualifications are reviewed, and you're invited to interview if they match the role requirements.
At senior level, this mechanism breaks down entirely . As explored in detail in this episode of Pegasus Radio , employers hiring for senior positions don't rely on application systems. They're filling roles where your technical knowledge is assumed—what they need is assurance that you can collaborate effectively with their team and deliver under their specific circumstances.
Relationships and Referrals as the Real Currency
The shift happens because senior roles carry higher stakes and require cultural fit that no CV can demonstrate. Hiring managers at that level want to know you've already proven yourself alongside people they trust and respect.
This is why Lionel Dore's career—24 years at Davis Belfield and Everest, Davis Langdon, and eventually becoming a partner at Davis Langdon and Acom—created such a strong foundation for his international moves. His reputation within the industry and recommendations from established collaborators gave him credibility that no application could replicate.
Recommendations from past colleagues essentially become your credentials. When someone you've worked with says "I know this person, I'd work with them again," that referral carries infinitely more weight than a CV. It's a shorthand for reliability, competence, and cultural alignment.
"You're going to get very few jobs through putting a CV into a job application—they want recommendations from the people you'll likely be working with."
Lionel Dore — Founder, Port Cullis LLC; former Partner, Davis Langdon and Acom. Lionel spent 24 of his 25 years in London at Davis Belfield and Everest and Davis Langdon before relocating to Dubai and then the United States, where he has since worked on infrastructure projects ranging from $400 million to $4–5 billion in value.
If you want to understand how this plays out in practice—including how Lionel navigated international career transitions and the specific visa pathways that enabled his moves between the UK, Dubai, and the United States— the full episode explores these dynamics in detail .
What visa pathway did Lionel Dore use to establish a business in the United States?
Lionel Dore used an E2 investor treaty visa to move to the United States and establish Port Cullis LLC in Orlando, Florida. This visa requires applicants to either create a business with a solid business plan or purchase an established business, then prove every three to five years that the operation is still active, American workers have been hired, and the business meaningfully contributes to the economy.
How the E2 visa works in practice
The E2 investor visa is specifically designed for treaty investors who want to establish or expand a business in the United States. Rather than requiring a minimum investment amount set in stone, the visa depends on demonstrating genuine business activity and economic impact . Applicants must show they have either developed a real business plan from scratch or identified an established business to acquire and grow.
The ongoing compliance piece is crucial. As Lionel Dore discusses in the episode , visa holders must regularly report to U.S. government authorities—typically every three to five years—to confirm that the business is still operating, that American employees have been hired, and that the company remains a meaningful economic contributor. This isn't a one-time approval; it's an active partnership between the visa holder and the U.S. immigration system.
Lionel Dore — Founder, Port Cullis LLC, and Director at BTY. With 24 years at Davis Langdon in London, where he became a partner at Davis Langdon and Acom, Dore brings deep expertise in construction economics and infrastructure. He moved to Orlando in 2013 after five years managing major retail and construction projects in Dubai, and now oversees large-scale infrastructure work including airports, toll roads, and light rail systems across North America.
The E2 visa is not limited to a fixed investment threshold —what matters is credibility and substance. For those coming from the UK like Dore, moving from a successful partnership at a top-tier firm like Davis Langdon to founding a business in the US became possible through this pathway. The visa effectively says: "You have a real plan, you're putting real money and effort behind it, and you'll keep proving it works."
If you're curious about the broader context of Dore's move to Orlando and how his QS background from London translated into the US market, the full episode covers his complete journey , including his years in Dubai and stints in Egypt and Saudi Arabia before settling in Florida.
What is the current state of US infrastructure investment and funding?
US infrastructure consistently receives a D grade in annual assessments because the country lacks adequate funding despite urgent needs. Billions of dollars are required for repairs and upgrades, but these funds simply are not available—a situation exacerbated by the fact that the petrol tax, historically designed to fund construction, was diverted for other purposes and never replenished.
The infrastructure gap in the United States is not a matter of debate. An annual report card consistently assigns a failing grade, signaling systemic underfunding across transportation, water systems, bridges, and other critical assets. As Lionel Dore explains in the episode , the scale of need far outpaces available resources.
One of the core contributors to this shortfall is the erosion of dedicated funding mechanisms. The petrol tax, intended to support infrastructure construction , was redirected to cover other government priorities and was never restored to its original purpose. Without this reliable revenue stream and without sufficient alternative funding sources, states and the federal government struggle to address the backlog of repairs and necessary expansions.
This funding crisis has persisted despite repeated political promises. Presidents and legislators have discussed infrastructure improvements for decades, yet meaningful action has consistently failed to materialize . The gap between rhetoric and delivery remains one of the defining challenges facing American infrastructure policy.
Lionel Dore — Founder, Port Cullis LLC. Dore has spent over two decades in the construction and infrastructure sectors, beginning his career at Davis Belfield and Everest in London, where his father also worked as a quantity surveyor. He later became a partner at Davis Langdon and Acom before relocating internationally, spending five years in Dubai as regional director for retail infrastructure projects at Acom and Atkins, and subsequently joining BTY as director overseeing major infrastructure projects including airports, toll roads, and light rail systems.
The challenge extends beyond simple budgeting. Private capital has increasingly been engaged through Public-Private Partnerships and similar structures discussed in detail in the podcast , allowing developers and contractors to take on roles traditionally held by government. Projects like the $4 billion LaGuardia Airport DBFOM initiative demonstrate how private funding can address urgent needs when public coffers are empty—yet such projects remain the exception rather than the rule across the country.
For professionals entering the infrastructure field in the United States, this funding reality creates both challenges and opportunities. The scarcity of public money means that private developers, consultants, and construction firms increasingly shape which projects get built and how they are financed. Understanding this landscape is essential for anyone considering a career in US infrastructure development.
What is the structure and benefit of Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) and Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain (DBFOM) in US infrastructure?
P3s allow states to leverage private capital for infrastructure projects when government budgets fall short. Under the DBFOM model, private developers build, finance, operate, and maintain the infrastructure for 30–50 years, shifting the long-term maintenance burden from the public sector while generating toll revenue that funds additional projects.
The structure works because the private partner assumes both the financial risk and operational responsibility , making them highly motivated to build infrastructure that minimizes maintenance costs and operates efficiently. While this approach costs more upfront than traditional public funding—because private companies must earn a profit and maintain higher specifications—states benefit significantly by avoiding decades of asset management.
As Lionel Dore explains in the episode , projects like the $4 billion LaGuardia Airport DBFOM in New York exemplify how large-scale infrastructure gets delivered through this model when public financing alone cannot support the capital requirements.
DBFOM (Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain) is a comprehensive delivery model where a single private entity handles all phases of an infrastructure project: initial design and construction, securing the financing, then operating and maintaining the asset for the contract duration—typically 25–50 years. This integrated approach aligns incentives, since the same organization that builds the asset must live with its maintenance requirements.
The financial mechanic of P3s addresses a core US infrastructure challenge: according to the podcast discussion , American infrastructure typically receives a D grade annually because states lack the billions required to maintain and upgrade aging systems . P3s unlock private capital that would otherwise remain unavailable, allowing critical projects to proceed.
Revenue generation forms another incentive layer. Toll roads, airport terminals, and light rail assets under DBFOM concessions generate user fees that flow partially to the public sponsor, creating a funding stream for complementary infrastructure investments rather than requiring new tax appropriations.
Lionel Dore — Founder of Port Cullis LLC and infrastructure cost consultant. Dore brings 25 years of professional experience, including 24 years in London as a quantity surveyor at Davis Belfield and Everest and Davis Langdon—where he became a partner—before relocating to North America. He has since overseen infrastructure projects ranging from $400 million to $4–5 billion in value for major clients, working directly on airport expansions, toll roads, and light rail systems.
The trade-off is transparency: P3 projects often require higher initial cost estimates because the private developer must cover financing costs, insurance, and profit margins. But as detailed in Pegasus Radio , this premium reflects genuine risk transfer: the public sector no longer bears the cost of 30–50 years of maintenance, operational surprises, or asset deterioration.
Why higher costs deliver real value
The apparent expense of P3 financing must be weighed against the alternative: traditional public delivery followed by decades of public-sector maintenance contracts, staffing, and eventual replacement. A private developer's contractual obligation to maintain the asset at specified performance levels creates incentives for durable design that a public budget-constrained authority might defer or underfund.
Toll revenue generated by these assets creates a virtuous cycle. Motorists, airline passengers, and transit riders effectively pre-finance upgrades and expansion through user fees, reducing dependence on taxpayer appropriations. This funding approach has enabled major airports and highway corridors in the US to modernize without ballot measures or legislative standoffs.
What were the characteristics of Davis Langdon during its peak as a leading QS firm?
Davis Langdon was recognized as the best in the QS world at its peak , setting the standard through rigorous work with top-tier architectural and design clients like Foster Partners and handling complex, high-stakes retail projects. The firm's London office demanded excellence from its team, and many professionals who passed through Davis Langdon went on to establish themselves as leading cost consultants and SMEs across London and beyond.
Working in the London office of Davis Langdon was no casual assignment. The firm operated at the highest tier of the quantity surveying profession, and that distinction was earned through the caliber of its client base and the complexity of the work undertaken. Foster Partners, one of the world's most respected architectural firms, was among the clients Davis Langdon served—a relationship that demanded expertise and precision on every project. The firm's involvement in major retail developments further cemented its reputation for handling sophisticated, multi-layered cost management challenges.
What elevated Davis Langdon beyond mere technical competence was its role as a training ground for the next generation of industry leaders. As detailed in the episode , many professionals who built their careers at Davis Langdon subsequently created some of the best specialized practices and consultancies within London's cost consultancy landscape. This wasn't coincidental—the firm's high standards and exposure to premium-tier projects created a pipeline of exceptionally trained professionals.
"Never in a million years when I started at Davis, Belfield and Everest did I think I'd become a partner of Davis, Langdon and Acom."
Lionel Dore — Founder of Port Cullis LLC, Director at BTY. Lionel spent 24 of his 25 years in London working at Davis Belfield and Everest and Davis Langdon, eventually becoming a partner at Davis Langdon and Acom. His father was also a QS at Davis Belfield and Everest, establishing a family legacy in the profession. After his London tenure, he relocated to Dubai for five years as regional director for Acom and Atkins, then moved to Orlando in 2013, where he later joined BTY overseeing major infrastructure projects including airports, toll roads, and light rail.
The path to partnership at Davis Langdon was not straightforward, which underscores the selective nature of the firm's promotion structure. Only those who demonstrated exceptional capability and consistent high performance across complex client relationships earned advancement to partner level. This meritocratic approach, combined with exposure to world-class architectural projects, created an environment where the firm's alumni network became synonymous with expertise and leadership in UK cost consultancy.
The firm that shaped an entire generation of consultancy leaders
Davis Langdon's peak was defined not just by its client roster or project complexity, but by its documented impact on the profession. The professionals who emerged from the firm's London office carried forward its standards of excellence, and many went on to establish their own consultancies or lead major initiatives within other top-tier firms. The episode explores how careers at Davis Langdon frequently became launching pads for professionals who would later define the competitive landscape of London's cost consultancy sector.
This legacy of developing future leaders and specialists became the firm's defining characteristic—not merely a measure of financial success, but a mark of institutional quality that extended far beyond its own operations into the wider profession.
How does family background influence entry into quantity surveying as a career?
Lionel's father was a QS at Davis Belfield and Everest, making the path straightforward for him. He started working at Davis Belfield and Everest around age…
From Australia to the UK: What Makes a Great Construction Consultant? | Matthew Mackey - Ep 54
What does a high-performing cost management consultant need to deliver client retention and competitive advantage?
You must become so embedded with the client that your departure creates a measurable hole in their bottom line . This happens by refusing commodity service delivery and instead offering the differentiated value others will not—such as full procurement management—consistently and at every touchpoint, which builds lasting trust and drives both retention and competitive advantage.
The fundamental shift from transaction-based consulting to relationship-driven delivery requires understanding that commoditized service offerings breed interchangeability. When a consultant can be replaced without impact, they have failed to anchor themselves to the client's core operations. As Matthew Mackey explains in the episode , the goal is to become a structural element of the client's decision-making apparatus , not a peripheral vendor cycling through annual reviews.
Elevation Through Differentiated Delivery
High-performing cost management consultants elevate themselves by pushing beyond standard scope. While others deliver cost estimates or value engineering within narrow boundaries, differentiated practitioners expand into full procurement oversight, contract negotiation strategy, and supply-chain optimization. This expanded scope makes the consultant indispensable because the work directly touches the client's profitability and risk exposure.
When clients experience consistent delivery of value in areas where they previously struggled or accepted compromise , the service relationship evolves naturally into partnership. The consultant is no longer bidding against competitors on fee schedules—they are retained because the cost of replacing them exceeds the cost of keeping them, and the organizational knowledge loss would be material.
A point detailed in this podcast is that engagement quality also matters—clients retain consultants who actively debate ideas and drive continuous improvement, not those who passively execute existing scope. This intellectual partnership deepens the relationship further.
"You've got to have a relationship and be so embedded with that client. If you were to walk out the door, that's going to be a hole in the company's bottom line."
Matthew Mackey — Director, Contolo Group. Over 16 years in Brisbane, Mackey built Arcadis's cost management service from a local offering into a market-leading practice by embedding himself deeply into client operations and consistently delivering beyond standard scope. He has since brought this embedded consulting philosophy back to the UK market through his leadership at Contolo Group, a portfolio brand operating across the construction consultancy sector.
Mackey's experience building market-leading services in two distinct markets—Australia and the UK—demonstrates that this embedding principle transcends geography. The full episode explores how structural differences between the Australian and UK construction markets shaped his approach to client retention, offering insight into how market volatility (like the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recovery cycles) either accelerates or delays the embedding process.
What retention and labor market pressures drive over-promotion in construction consultancy?
Labor shortages across the construction consultancy sector force employers to offer rapid promotions and inflated titles to prevent staff departure. Firms competing for the same limited pool of qualified professionals engage in what one industry expert calls "robbing Peter to pay Paul"—a retention-driven promotion dynamic where many roles are held by people who lack the genuine experience for their titles.
The root cause is straightforward: talent is scarce, and losing skilled professionals creates real costs. When a senior consultant walks out the door, their absence leaves a measurable hole in the company's bottom line —not just in lost billable hours but in client relationships and ongoing project continuity. Employers fear this scenario enough to fast-track advancement as a preventive measure.
This creates a vicious cycle within firms. As Matthew Mackey explains in the episode , associate-level roles end up staffed by people who are genuinely only mid-level or junior performers—professionals promoted beyond their actual capability simply because the firm needed to keep them. The title inflates, but the foundational expertise often does not match.
Retention as a Competitive Weapon
When multiple firms pursue the same consultants, promotion becomes the battleground. Instead of investing in long-term staff development or creating genuine career pathways, companies accelerate titles and compensation to match competing offers. Inflated seniority becomes the currency of retention in a market where departures are costly and replacements are hard to find.
This dynamic is particularly acute in specialist roles—cost management, program management, quantity surveying—where qualified professionals are few. A firm that loses a lead consultant to a competitor cannot simply hire a replacement at the same level; the market does not supply them. So the response is to promote internally, even when internal candidates are not yet ready, and to match external offers with titles that overstate actual capability.
"You've got to have a relationship and be so embedded with that client. If you were to walk out the door, that's going to be a hole in the company's bottom line."
Matthew Mackey — Director at Contolo Group, a portfolio company serving the UK construction consultancy market. Mackey spent 16 years building Arcadis's cost management service in Brisbane, where he navigated rapid job transitions across a unionized market before returning to Manchester in late 2024. His background spans both Australian and UK construction sectors, giving him direct insight into how labor pressures differ between regions.
The paradox is that firms often complain about promotion fatigue and talent development, yet the conditions that drive over-promotion—labor shortage, high turnover risk, competitive poaching—persist unsolved. Retention through advancement becomes cheaper than investing in engagement and development culture , even though it degrades the quality of leadership and creates instability downstream.
For professionals watching this dynamic, it serves as both opportunity and warning: promotions come faster in tight labor markets, but titles in such environments often misrepresent actual readiness. A point discussed at length in this conversation on the pressures shaping modern construction consultancy careers.
How should graduates in construction and project management calibrate career expectations after university?
Just because you have a degree does not mean you skip the foundational rungs of the career ladder—a graduate must start at entry level positions and put in…
What speed and procurement advantages does the Australian market offer compared to the UK?
Australian clients do move faster with quick planning processes and rapid decision-making , unlike the UK where the Building Safety Act and backlogs create delays. Yet Australia lacks systematic procurement thinking—firms cycle through delivery methods like fashion trends without analyzing project risk or contract fit, whereas the UK market applies rigorous, intentional procurement strategy.
When Australian clients commit to a project, they don't wait. The approval process moves at pace because planning backlogs don't constrain decisions the way they do in the UK. This speed is real and tangible—no lengthy statutory consultation periods, no building control bottlenecks holding up the start. For firms that thrive on momentum, Australia looks appealing.
However, this speed comes with a structural weakness. Australian procurement lacks intentional strategy —as explained in this episode of Pegasus Radio , firms follow procurement "like it's a fashion trend." They cycle between design and construct one project, then switch to early contractor involvement the next, without systematically asking whether the delivery method matches the risk profile, contract type, or actual project requirements.
The UK market, by contrast, faces structural constraints—the Building Safety Act adds approval time, and planning application queues create real delays. But this friction has forced the UK industry to develop deliberate, risk-based procurement analysis . Every delivery method is chosen for a reason, not by habit or market momentum.
"You've got to have a relationship and be so embedded with that client. If you were to walk out the door, that's going to be a hole in the company's bottom line."
Matthew Mackey — Director at Contolo Group. After 16 years in Brisbane building Arcadis's cost management service, Mackey witnessed firsthand how Australian procurement culture differs fundamentally from the UK. He made more career moves in 5 years navigating Australia's market structure than in his first 15 years in Manchester, and built a substantial personal brand through podcasting, networking, and financial media appearances before returning to the UK construction consultancy sector in late 2024.
So the trade-off is clear: speed versus strategy . Australia wins on pace; the UK wins on intentionality. A firm choosing between markets must decide whether faster project approvals outweigh the risk of ad-hoc procurement decisions, or whether building in a regulated environment that demands rigorous thinking is worth the timeline cost. Listen to the full discussion to hear how Matthew Mackey navigated these differences across both markets.
What structural factors limit the development of the QS profession in Australia?
Australian QS firms face two interconnected structural barriers: the construction industry is heavily unionized with all trade contractors belonging to a single union , creating fundamentally different dynamics than the non-unionized UK, and many local firms show reluctance to expand their service offerings or move closer to client relationships, preferring to stay within the traditional 50-70 year old cost planning and tender analysis model.
The unionized environment in Australia creates constraints that don't exist in the UK market. When labor is collectively organized and standardized, the flexibility for QS firms to reposition themselves—taking on greater responsibility or diversifying their service lines—becomes significantly limited. Matthew Mackey explores this distinction in detail in the Pegasus Radio episode , drawing on 16 years of firsthand experience navigating these market differences as head of cost management at Arcadis in Brisbane.
Why local QS firms resist service expansion
Beyond the structural constraint of unionization lies a cultural resistance within the Australian QS profession itself. Many firms choose to operate within a narrow, decades-old model rather than stepping into broader advisory or strategic roles that would position them closer to the client decision-making table. This conservatism—whether driven by risk aversion, lack of market demand, or established business model inertia—means the profession remains locked in transactional cost planning rather than evolving into integrated delivery partnerships.
This self-imposed boundary stands in stark contrast to how QS consultants in the UK have progressively repositioned their role. The absence of such systemic unionization in the UK construction industry has allowed QS firms greater autonomy to experiment, expand, and claim strategic territory. In Australia, Mackey notes the challenge of advocating for broader QS responsibilities against this dual resistance—external labor market constraints and internal professional conservatism.
"You've got to have a relationship and be so embedded with that client. If you were to walk out the door, that's going to be a hole in the company's bottom line."
Matthew Mackey — Director at Contolo Group, former Head of Cost Management at Arcadis Brisbane. After 16 years building cost management services in Australia, where he made more job moves in five years than in his first 15 years in Manchester, Mackey returned to the UK in late 2024 with deep insight into both markets. During his time in Brisbane, he ran a podcast, managed a major networking group, and appeared on Australian financial television, building a distinctive personal brand within the construction consultancy sector.
For QS professionals frustrated by these structural limitations, the full episode of Pegasus Radio with Mackey goes deeper into how career trajectories diverge between these two markets , including why relocating from the UK to Australia often means stepping back in responsibility—and what that reveals about how differently the two industries value the QS role.
How does career progression differ for professionals relocating from the UK to Australia?
Relocating professionals typically experience a significant step backward in responsibility level—typically two to three years . The Australian QS role carries measurably less project-level authority than its UK equivalent, even when working for the same global firm at the same organizational level.
Matthew Mackey moved from director level in Manchester to a senior cost manager position when he relocated to Australia. Despite holding an equivalent title at a recognized global consultancy, the actual scope of work and decision-making power differed substantially. The Australian market structure fundamentally limits the autonomy afforded to quantity surveyor roles compared to their UK counterparts.
This isn't a reflection of individual capability—it's a market structural reality. As Mackey noted in the episode , professionals moving internationally should expect to invest time rebuilding credibility and understanding local hierarchies, even if they arrive with extensive experience. The role title remains similar on paper, but the practical authority and project involvement differ significantly.
Career navigation in a new market also depends on understanding unwritten rules. Mackey's experience in Brisbane shows that professionals who make multiple job moves within their first five years overseas aren't necessarily failing—they're often learning which firms and roles genuinely match the career trajectory they want to build.
"You've got to have a relationship and be so embedded with that client. If you were to walk out the door, that's going to be a hole in the company's bottom line."
Matthew Mackey — Director, Contolo Group. Mackey spent 16 years in Brisbane building and leading Arcadis's cost management service before returning to Manchester in late 2024. He navigated multiple role changes across Australian firms while establishing himself as a thought leader through podcast hosting, networking group management, and appearances on Australian financial television—all while contending with the structural differences between UK and Australian QS roles.
One specific challenge is that the Australian construction industry operates as a unionized market , unlike the non-unionized UK environment. This fundamental difference in labor relations ripples through project delivery, cost management authority, and the way fees are structured—all factors that reshape how a senior cost manager actually works, regardless of their prior experience in Manchester or London.
The Real Price of International Relocation
Accepting a step backward is not optional —it's the entry cost of international relocation in construction consultancy. Mackey made more job moves in five years in Australia than in his first 15 years of UK employment, precisely because he was identifying the roles and firms where he could rebuild credibility and eventually return to director-level authority.
This isn't a permanent career ceiling. The key difference is timeline: what took three years to achieve in the UK may take five or six in Australia. Understanding this upfront helps professionals choose between firms strategically and avoid the frustration of expecting immediate parity with their previous role.
What are the key differences between the QS role in the UK versus Australian construction markets?
In Australia, the QS role is diminished compared to the UK—QSs can be appointed as sub-consultants to architects, excluded from design team meetings, and…
Can Construction Keep Up? Growth, AI & the Future of the Industry | Jamie Hillier of Akerlof Ep 53
How does Accaloft ensure that strategies are deliverable in practice?
Accaloft tests strategies in-house by embedding multiple stakeholder perspectives from the earliest project stages , using a technique inspired by Amazon's practice of placing a spare chair to represent the customer. This approach ensures that social value, environmental outcomes, and commercial deliverability align, rather than working in silos.
The methodology goes beyond conventional strategy work. Jamie Hillier and his team deliberately bring together different viewpoints—contractor perspectives, design team input, and client priorities—during the development phase. This prevents strategies from being handed over to site teams only to discover they're impractical or misaligned with on-ground realities.
As discussed in the Pegasus Radio episode , this approach reflects the complexity of construction itself. The industry has multiple competing stakeholder interests , and acknowledging them early in the strategy process rather than later in delivery dramatically improves outcomes. The spare chair method is simple but powerful: it forces teams to voice perspectives that might otherwise be overlooked until problems surface on site.
By structuring strategy work around this multi-stakeholder lens, Accaloft bridges what has historically been a gap in the built environment: the distance between what senior leadership decides and what teams can actually execute. Social value frameworks and environmental goals sound good in strategy documents, but if contractors cannot deliver them within budget and schedule, they remain theoretical .
To understand more about Accaloft's approach to embedding commercial and operational realities into strategy, listen to Jamie's detailed walk-through of their three-part service model —which stitches social value, modern methods of construction advice, and commercial management into a single integrated approach rather than treating them as separate consultancy streams.
Jamie Hillier — Co-founder and Partner at Accaloft. Jamie spent nearly 20 years at a tier one major contractor, where he progressed from site QS to pre-construction director for the major projects business, covering estimating, digital design, planning, and site operations. He co-founded Accaloft with two partners to bridge the gap between strategic ambitions and on-site delivery, embedding better practices at earlier project stages using his deep contracting experience.
Accaloft tests all strategies in-house using multi-stakeholder perspectives inspired by Amazon's spare chair technique, ensuring nothing is missed before deployment.
Embedding contractor, design, and client viewpoints at the strategy stage prevents misalignment between what is promised and what can actually be delivered on site.
Social value and environmental goals must align with commercial and operational constraints from day one—strategies that ignore deliverability remain theoretical.
The construction industry's multiple stakeholder interests are too complex to manage in isolation; bringing them into one conversation early avoids costly rework and failure points.
What does Jamie identify as critical industry challenges that Accaloft addresses?
The construction industry faces massive, unaddressed productivity issues that will force it into crisis within five to ten years unless urgently fixed. Without improvement in industrialisation and efficiency, the sector risks grinding to a halt regardless of how solutions are framed—whether through offsite technology, digitisation, or structural alliances.
Jamie Hillier identifies a fundamental gap between what the industry needs and what it's currently delivering. The problem isn't theoretical: it's a capacity crisis disguised as a technical one. As explained in the episode , productivity levels determine whether projects stay profitable and whether the sector can meet future demand.
Accaloft emerged from this diagnosis. Founded in late 2019—just before the pandemic— the firm operates across three core service streams designed to bridge the gap between strategic vision and on-site reality. These span social value and ESG compliance, modern methods of construction (MMC) and industrialisation advice, and commercial management. The three streams are deliberately woven together, not siloed, because productivity fixes require simultaneous attention to delivery, value capture, and stakeholder alignment.
Hillier's perspective comes from nearly twenty years as a tier one major contractor , where he advanced from site QS to pre-construction director managing estimating, digital design, planning, and site operations for major projects. That front-line experience shaped his core insight: poor productivity isn't a failure of intention or capability—it's a failure of integration. Teams optimise their own function without accounting for upstream or downstream impact, and by the time problems surface on-site, the financial and schedule damage is already done.
"If we do not fix, we're going to be in a real mess in five or ten years. The industry is almost going to go out of control."
Jamie Hillier — Co-founder and Partner, Accaloft. After nearly two decades as a pre-construction director at a tier one major contractor, Hillier co-founded Accaloft with two partners to embed better practices at the earlier stages of project development, leveraging his hands-on experience in estimating, digital design, planning, and site delivery to shift how construction aligns productivity with profitability.
The real tension, as discussed at length in the podcast , is that the productivity challenge isn't new. It persists because the industry treats solutions as specialist add-ons rather than foundational disciplines. Offsite construction, digital twins, supply chain management—none of these unlock value in isolation. They only work when integrated into earlier project phases , where strategy meets delivery.
Productivity as a Five-to-Ten-Year Threshold
Hillier frames the crisis with urgency because the window for preventative action is closing. Projects already operating at tight margins have little room to absorb inefficiency. Without deliberate, systemic improvement in how work is planned, sequenced, and executed, the sector will face a cascade of project failures, margin compression, and labour shortages that ripple across the entire supply chain.
This is why Accaloft's three-strand approach addresses not just delivery method but also the commercial and social context in which delivery happens. The episode explores in detail how government clients—Ministry of Justice, MHCLG—and healthcare trusts are now expecting contractors and consultants to embed productivity improvements while simultaneously meeting social value and ESG targets. The challenge is synthesising all three without compromising any.
Construction's productivity crisis is existential: without urgent fixes in five to ten years, the industry risks capacity collapse.
The solution requires simultaneous focus on industrialisation, digitisation, commercial integration, and social value—not siloed initiatives.
Early-stage project planning is where productivity is won or lost; later interventions are costly and ineffective.
Government and healthcare clients now mandate productivity improvement as part of procurement, forcing industry-wide behaviour change.
Who are Accaloft's typical clients and project types?
Accaloft works primarily with government departments, healthcare trusts, and collaborative SME networks —not large-scale PMO operations. The firm targets complex, multidisciplinary challenges where different stakeholder perspectives demand integrated thinking, moving away from standardized, high-volume project management work.
The client roster reflects this niche focus. Accaloft engages with government bodies like the Ministry of Justice and MHCLG (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) on strategic initiatives, alongside healthcare trusts developing new hospital programs. These are environments where solving problematic areas requires cross-functional collaboration rather than pure delivery scale.
Jamie Hillier, who spent nearly 20 years as a site QS and pre-construction director at a tier one major contractor before co-founding Accaloft, built the firm specifically to bridge the gap between strategic ambition and on-site execution. His contracting background shaped Accaloft's focus: the consultancy advises on complex problems early in project life, as discussed in the Pegasus Radio episode , where embedding better practices at pre-construction stages has measurably higher returns than managing poorly planned projects from site delivery onward.
Contractors and SME consultancies also form part of the client base, typically bound in strategic alliances rather than one-off engagements . This approach allows Accaloft to work alongside partners who share its philosophy of multidisciplinary problem-solving, rather than competing as a standalone advisory firm. The firm deliberately sidesteps the large PMO model—high-volume, standardized delivery—because that market demands scale and operational efficiency, not the bespoke, complex problem-solving that defines Accaloft's core strength.
"Within Amazon, they have a spare chair to represent the customer. We try and look at things from different angles of different stakeholders."
Jamie Hillier — Co-founder and Partner at Accaloft. With nearly 20 years in tier one contracting and extensive experience in pre-construction, digital design, and major projects delivery, Hillier co-founded Accaloft in late 2019 to embed better practices at the strategic stage of project development, focusing on social value, Modern Methods of Construction, and commercial management rather than high-volume delivery.
This stakeholder-centered approach is central to why Accaloft's clients tend to be organizations facing genuinely complex challenges. Government projects, hospital programs, and collaborative procurement initiatives all require the kind of deep multidisciplinary thinking that the podcast episode explores —weighing social value, industrial methods, and commercial realities simultaneously. It's not a model that scales to thousands of routine projects, but it creates measurable differentiation in the subset of work where strategic alignment and embedded expertise matter most.
Why Accaloft skips the large PMO market
Large-scale Project Management Office work requires operational efficiency, standardized processes, and the ability to handle volume—assets that Accaloft, as a sub-10-person firm with an associate scaling model to roughly 20 , deliberately does not prioritize. Instead, the firm invests 80% of its effort thinking ahead about what its clients' businesses will be in five years, not managing 100 current projects at maximum burn rate.
This discipline reflects Accaloft's founding principle: work on problems worth solving, with people worth working with. For further insight into how that philosophy shapes the firm's growth strategy, Hillier discusses Accaloft's deliberate approach to scaling in the full episode, including the cash reserves the firm maintains before hiring and how that caution has served it through industry volatility.
What is Accaloft's approach to growth and business strategy?
Accaloft is guarded about scaling aggressively and instead follows three core principles: working with people they enjoy, tackling interesting projects and challenges, and delivering positive impact . The firm manages growth through two forecasting tramlines—one ensuring sufficient work to cover costs and another identifying the threshold of collective overload, where team capacity would erode their culture and values.
Building on intentional foundations
Founded in November 2019—just before the pandemic—Accaloft began with deliberate financial discipline. Jamie Hillier and his co-founders operated from a position of strategic caution, maintaining six months of cash reserves before hiring new staff , a principle that shaped their early scaling model. This constraint-driven approach forced clarity about what mattered most and eliminated the false choice between rapid growth and survival.
As discussed in the Pegasus Radio episode , this philosophy extends to how the firm allocates energy. The guiding ratio is simple: spend 20% of resources optimizing current operations, then invest 80% in understanding what the business will need to be in the next five years. That forward-looking discipline informs every hiring and project decision.
Two tramlines to prevent burnout and dilution
Accaloft's growth strategy rests on a dual monitoring system that sounds deceptively simple but demands constant attention. The first tramline ensures sufficient revenue flow to balance the books without dependence on external funding . The second identifies the point at which the team reaches collective overload—the moment when saying yes to another client or project would begin to erode culture, quality, and the principles that define the firm.
This second tramline is the less obvious but more critical guardrail. Many firms ignore it until damage is already done. As Jamie Hillier explains , the construction industry faces massive productivity issues that, if left unaddressed over the next five to ten years, risk pushing the sector into crisis. Accaloft's choice to protect its culture is a deliberate rejection of the trend toward unsustainable scaling.
"If we do not fix, we're going to be in a real mess in five or ten years. The industry is almost going to go out of control."
Jamie Hillier — Co-founder and Partner, Accaloft. With nearly 20 years at a tier one major contractor, where he progressed from site QS to pre-construction director, Hillier co-founded Accaloft to bridge the gap between strategic ambitions and on-site delivery, embedding better practices at the earliest stages of project development.
The firm's service model reinforces this philosophy. Accaloft operates across three core streams—social value and ESG, Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and industrialization advice, and commercial management—and deliberately stitches these together rather than compartmentalizing them. This integration requires senior thinking and cannot be scaled through junior staff chasing billable hours. The model itself enforces discipline around team size and capacity.
Accaloft prioritizes three values—working with people they enjoy, tackling interesting challenges, and delivering positive impact—over pursuing growth for its own sake.
The firm maintains financial independence by holding six months of cash before adding headcount, a constraint that shaped early discipline and remains foundational.
Growth is managed through two parallel forecasting lines: one tracking revenue sufficiency, the other monitoring team capacity and cultural erosion risk.
Founded in 2019 with a deliberately integrated service model, Accaloft rejects fragmented scaling in favor of senior-led delivery that cannot be commodified.
What are the partnership backgrounds that formed Accaloft?
Accaloft was built by three co-founders with distinct expertise in major contracting, procurement, and social value delivery . Jamie Hillier brought nearly 20 years of tier one contractor experience; John led procurement activities with technical depth; and Ellie contributed social value and engagement background from main contracting and construction innovation work.
The partnership emerged from aligned professional journeys spanning a decade-plus of prior collaboration. Jamie's evolution from site QS to pre-construction director gave him a unique vantage point across estimating, digital design, planning, and site operations—the full pipeline from aspiration to delivery. His two co-founders each specialized in complementary disciplines, creating what they set out to be: a bridge between strategic vision and on-site reality.
As detailed in the episode , this background diversity was intentional. The founders recognized that construction projects often suffer from a disconnect between boardroom ambition and ground-level execution. By combining contracting rigor, procurement discipline, and genuine social value expertise—rather than treating ESG as a checkbox—Accaloft positioned itself to embed better practices at the earliest stages of project development.
The three-strand service offering they built—social value and ESG, modern methods of construction (MMC) and industrialisation advice, and commercial management—reflects this founding trio perfectly. Each thread traces directly to one founder's domain, and their 10–15 years of working together before formal launch meant the model was grounded in shared experience, not theory.
"Within Amazon, they have a spare chair to represent the customer. We try and look at things from different angles of different stakeholders."
Jamie Hillier — Co-founder and Partner, Accaloft. Over nearly two decades at a tier one major contractor, Jamie progressed from site quantity surveyor to pre-construction director for the major projects business, managing estimating, digital design, planning, and site-related activities. He co-founded Accaloft with two partners in November or December 2019 to bridge the structural gap between strategic ambitions and on-site delivery, leveraging his deep contracting background to shift how early-stage project development is conducted.
For a fuller picture of Accaloft's operating model and how that founding structure translates into day-to-day operation, explore the full Pegasus Radio episode , where Jamie also discusses the business's deliberate growth constraints and longer-term vision for the construction industry.
How does Accaloft differentiate itself from larger multidisciplinary engineering firms?
Accaloft differentiates by maintaining a relatively small team of senior-level professionals who excel at translating between strategic aspiration and on-site reality, offering deep thinking and multi-functional perspective without the overhead of large project management office infrastructure. Rather than competing on scale, the firm positions itself as a collaborative partner—not threatening to larger organisations, but focused on bringing focused expertise and meaningful partnership to specific project challenges.
Senior expertise over organizational scale
The firm's core strength lies in depth of thinking rather than team size . With sub-10 directly employed staff, Accaloft operates an associate model that scales to approximately 20 people when needed, allowing the business to bring specialized expertise without maintaining permanent overhead that constrains flexibility or profitability.
This structure enables the team to avoid the complexity and cost of a traditional PMO setup. Instead of relying on large administrative structures to coordinate work across disciplines, Accaloft's senior consultants—many with 15 to 20 years in major contracting—naturally embed multi-functional considerations into their advice from the outset.
A collaborative posture, not a competitive threat
Accaloft's positioning is deliberately non-confrontational. The firm is open to partnership with larger organisations rather than seeking to replace them or compete head-to-head on delivery capacity. This collaborative approach makes Accaloft an asset to major consultancies and contractors, not a rival bidding for the same work.
As explored in the Pegasus Radio episode , this strategy reflects the firm's founding principle: bridge the gap between strategic intent and practical delivery by embedding better practices earlier in the project lifecycle, not by building a parallel mega-consultancy.
"We want to keep within the bank, for instance, six months worth of cash before we take on a new employee."
Jamie Hillier — Co-founder and Partner, Accaloft. Jamie spent nearly 20 years at a tier one major contractor, rising from site QS to pre-construction director, covering estimating, digital design, planning, and site operations. He co-founded Accaloft with two partners to embed better construction practices at the earlier, strategic stages of projects, leveraging his contracting experience to bridge the gap between ambition and delivery.
This discipline with cash flow reflects a broader philosophy: Accaloft's model is designed to remain lean, profitable, and deliberately constrained—the opposite of a "growth at all costs" trajectory. The firm's approach to stakeholder-centric project thinking, including techniques like Amazon's spare chair practice , underscores how Accaloft adds value through rigorous strategic thinking rather than sheer team size.
What is the current headcount and operating model of Accaloft?
Accaloft maintains fewer than 10 directly employed staff but runs an associate model that scales flexibly to approximately 20 people. This structure lets the firm bring in specialized expertise for specific projects while keeping monthly operating costs controlled and predictable.
The lean core team philosophy reflects a deliberate choice made early in Accaloft's founding. Rather than building a large payroll immediately, Jamie Hillier and his co-founders designed the business to grow through trusted associate partnerships that activate only when needed. This approach proved especially valuable given that Accaloft launched in November or December 2019—just before the pandemic hit—making cost discipline a hard necessity rather than an option.
As the Pegasus Radio episode explores , the scaling model works because the three core service lines—ESG and social value, industrialized construction advice, and commercial management—each demand different expertise at different project phases. Rather than hiring permanently for every skill, Accaloft brings in specialists when a particular engagement requires depth in a specific area.
"We have got massive productivity issues that if we do not fix, we're going to be in a real mess in five or ten years."
Jamie Hillier — Co-founder and Partner, Accaloft. After nearly 20 years at a tier one major contractor—where he progressed from site QS to pre-construction director for the major projects business, covering estimating, digital design, planning, and site-related activities—Hillier founded Accaloft to close the gap between strategic ambitions and on-site delivery. He brings deep expertise in construction procurement, industrialized methods, and embedding better practices at the pre-construction stage.
The financial discipline behind this model is intentional. Early on, Hillier maintained six months of cash reserves before hiring any new permanent employee—a practice rooted in building sustainable momentum rather than chasing rapid growth. This conservative stance reflects a broader philosophy: spend time and resources optimizing current operations before scaling headcount.
Interestingly, the episode also covers how Accaloft thinks about stakeholder perspectives , drawing lessons from practices like Amazon's "spare chair" method, which has shaped how the firm structures its advisory relationships and associate partnerships.
Staying lean while serving complex mandates
The sub-10 permanent team works because Accaloft's service model relies on deep specialization rather than breadth . Each of the three co-founders steers a distinct function—one leads the social value work, another procurement and commercial matters—creating clear ownership and accountability. When a project requires additional firepower in one area, associates fill that gap temporarily without inflating the fixed cost base.
This structure also aligns with Accaloft's market positioning. The firm works with organizations managing complex, multi-stakeholder mandates—including clients like Ministry of Justice, MHCLG, and major developers—where specialist input matters more than team size. The Pegasus Radio discussion details how this approach addresses the productivity crises affecting the broader construction sector, by embedding better practices earlier rather than managing problems downstream.
Accaloft's core team is sub-10 employees, designed for sustainability and cost control from day one.
An associate model scales the firm to approximately 20 people, activating specialist expertise only when projects require it.
Six months of cash reserves before hiring and a focus on optimizing current operations reflects deliberate financial discipline.
Three co-founders each own a core service stream—social value, procurement, and commercial management—creating clear accountability across the business.
When was Accaloft founded and what prompted its creation?
Accaloft was founded in November 2019—just before the pandemic—because Jamie Hillier saw a fundamental gap in how construction projects move from strategic intent to actual delivery. He left a major tier one contractor where he had spent nearly twenty years, reaching pre-construction director level, because he believed there was a better route to embedding delivery excellence at the earlier stages of project development, eliminating the gap between what clients wanted and what they actually received.
A career shift driven by delivery experience
Jamie Hillier spent nearly two decades in major contracting , progressing from site QS (quantity surveyor) to pre-construction director for a major projects business. In that role, he managed estimating, digital design, planning, and site-related activities—work that gave him deep insight into where projects succeed or fail.
What he observed was a consistent problem: strategic ambitions set at the boardroom level rarely translated seamlessly to the site. As Jamie explains in the Pegasus Radio episode , he wanted to work with clients and delivery teams at an earlier stage in the project lifecycle, before those disconnects hardened into scope, budget, and schedule issues.
Timing, founder partners, and a deliberate approach to growth
Hillier co-founded Accaloft with two other partners , each bringing distinct expertise—one with a deep focus on social value and ESG, another on procurement. The decision to launch in November or December 2019 was bold; within months, the pandemic would reshape the entire construction landscape.
From the outset, Accaloft adopted a deliberately conservative approach to scaling. Jamie and his partners maintained a minimum six-month cash reserve before hiring any new employee, a discipline that helped them weather the economic shocks that followed. This isn't a business designed for rapid orbital growth—it's built on sustainable, carefully managed expansion rooted in the founders' operational experience.
"if we do not fix [productivity in construction], we're going to be in a real mess in five or ten years. The industry is almost going to go out of control."
Jamie Hillier — Co-founder and Partner, Accaloft. Jamie spent nearly 20 years as a site QS and pre-construction director at a tier one major contractor, managing estimating, digital design, and planning for major projects. He co-founded Accaloft to bridge the gap between strategic ambitions and on-site delivery, embedding better practices at earlier project stages.
One detail that reveals Accaloft's mindset: the podcast conversation includes Jamie's reflection on how the firm approaches stakeholder perspectives , using methods like Amazon's "spare chair" principle to ensure every voice—client, delivery team, subcontractor, community—is genuinely heard in problem-solving. That philosophy directly stems from his years watching projects break down when key perspectives were sidelined.
From whiteboard tracking to strategic foresight
In Accaloft's early days, the approach was stripped to essentials. Jamie kept a whiteboard next to his desk , marking which invoices had been paid and which hadn't—a tangible, daily reminder of cash flow reality. Over time, the firm has evolved to balance operational discipline with forward-looking strategy: spend £20 optimizing your current business for every £80 spent thinking five years ahead .
This founding story—a senior contracting professional stepping away from a major firm to start lean, deliberately, and strategically positioned—explains why Accaloft exists at all. It wasn't a side project or a lifestyle business; it was a deliberate act of professional conviction, timed just before a global crisis tested every assumption about how construction could be organized.
What are the three core service lines of Accaloft?
Accaloft operates three distinct service lines: ESG and social value advisory, helping clients ensure their projects deliver positive impact for places and people; industrialised construction support, focused on modern methods of construction and enhanced productivity; and commercial and QS services that translate strategic ambitions into deliverable on-site practice.
The three pillars work together as an integrated offering. Rather than treating each service in isolation, Accaloft threads them across projects to address the full lifecycle from strategy through execution.
ESG and social value sit at the forefront of modern construction, a landscape discussed in detail in this episode of Pegasus Radio . Clients increasingly need to demonstrate that their developments create genuine benefit beyond profit. Accaloft helps quantify and embed those outcomes from the outset.
From pre-construction ambition to site delivery
The second pillar—industrialised construction support—addresses a critical industry challenge: productivity. Modern Methods of Construction and factory-based assembly unlock efficiency gains that traditional on-site building struggles to achieve. Accaloft bridges the gap between these innovative delivery methods and the teams responsible for executing them.
The commercial and QS services form the third cornerstone. This is where strategy becomes reality. Quantity surveying and commercial management translate high-level planning into cost, programme, and risk frameworks that protect profitability and delivery certainty on site.
"We began, this might give you a bit of insight to our past foresight, just before the pandemic, coming up for seven years. We want to keep within the bank, for instance, six months worth of cash before we take on a new employee."
Jamie Hillier — Co-founder and Partner at Accaloft. Jamie spent nearly 20 years at a tier one major contractor, progressing from site QS to pre-construction director for major projects, covering estimating, digital design, planning, and site coordination. He co-founded Accaloft with two partners to embed better construction practices earlier in the development lifecycle, combining his on-site expertise with strategic advisory.
What makes this model distinctive is the deliberate blending. As Jamie Hillier explains in the podcast , these three services are not sold as separate consultancy boxes. Instead, they reinforce each other. Social value drives design choices; those choices shape construction methodology; and commercial strategy ensures the execution is both feasible and profitable.
This integrated approach reflects Accaloft's founding principle: to close the gap between what clients aspire to build and what actually gets delivered on site. In seven years of operation, the firm has refined this positioning to address what Jamie identifies as a core industry challenge—the disconnect between strategic intent and practical delivery.
What are the three core service lines offered by Accaloft?
Accaloft operates around three interconnected service lines: ESG and social value work that helps clients deliver positive impact for the places and people they develop; industrialized construction support focused on modern methods to enhance productivity, safety, and environmental performance; and commercial and QS expertise that translates strategic ambitions into deliverable practice.
Three interconnected pillars driving industry change
Founded in late 2019, Accaloft emerged at a critical moment for construction. Jamie Hillier and his co-founders designed the business around a simple principle: stitch together the disciplines that typically operate in silos. The first pillar, ESG and social value, reflects a broader shift in how development is measured—not just by financial returns, but by stakeholder outcomes.
The second pillar, industrialized construction and modern methods, addresses what Hillier identifies as the industry's most pressing challenge, as discussed in Pegasus Radio . This service line draws directly from the firm's deep experience in prefabrication and offsite construction, areas where the construction sector lags most competitors in productivity innovation.
The third pillar—commercial and QS expertise—acts as the translator. Strategy and ambition mean nothing without rigorous cost planning, risk management, and delivery discipline. All three services work together: you cannot optimize industrialized delivery without understanding commercial and procurement realities, and you cannot authentically deliver social value without honest commercial planning.
"We have got massive productivity issues that if we do not fix, we're going to be in a real mess in five to ten years."
Jamie Hillier — Co-founder and Partner, Accaloft. With approximately 20 years at a tier-one major contractor as a site QS and pre-construction director, Hillier brings deep expertise in estimating, digital design, planning, and site delivery. He has led work on major projects including the King's Cross Development and Ministry of Justice strategies, grounding Accaloft's service philosophy in real project experience.
This three-line approach is not accidental. Early in Accaloft's history, the firm secured the Ministry of Justice as an anchor client within the first six months—a validation that the market recognizes the value of integrated expertise. The firm operates lean, with sub-10 directly employed staff but scales to approximately 20 through an associate model, allowing flexibility while maintaining quality and control.
The interconnection matters most. As Hillier explains in the episode , when you bring ESG thinking into commercial strategy, you begin to ask different questions about supply chains, site productivity, and safety culture. When you embed modern methods advice into QS work, cost planning shifts from defense to opportunity. This integration is what sets Accaloft apart in a sector where fragmentation remains the norm.
Accaloft's ESG and social value line ensures development delivers measurable positive outcomes for communities and environments, not just financial returns.
Industrialized construction and modern methods expertise addresses the productivity crisis Hillier identifies as existential for the industry over the next five to ten years.
Commercial and QS services translate strategic ambitions into delivery discipline, ensuring cost, risk, and procurement realities are factored into every decision.
The three pillars work as an integrated system: ESG informs commercial strategy, modern methods drive cost opportunity, and QS expertise grounds both in project reality.
What are the three core service lines that Akerlof provides?
Akerlof operates three integrated service lines: ESG and social value to deliver positive impact for places and people; industrialized construction support using modern, innovative methods with enhanced productivity and safety; and commercial management backed by quantity surveying expertise to translate strategies into deliverable practice.
These three streams form the backbone of what Jamie Hillier and his co-founders built when they established Akerlof just before the pandemic in November 2019. Each service line addresses a distinct challenge facing the construction industry, yet they are deliberately stitched together to create a cohesive consulting approach.
A consultancy born from major contracting experience
Hillier came to founding Akerlof after nearly 20 years progressing through a tier one major contractor—from site QS to pre-construction director on major healthcare, custodial, and public social infrastructure projects. He partnered with John, who brought procurement expertise, and Ellie from the Construction Innovation Hub, who spearheaded social value work.
This combination of deep operational experience and thematic specialization shaped how the firm structures its offering. As Hillier explains in the episode , the three service lines reflect real stakeholder needs across the construction ecosystem—from public bodies seeking measurable social impact, to contractors wrestling with efficiency and modern methods, to clients and funders requiring transparent commercial management.
Why stakeholder perspective matters
Akerlof's approach borrows from Amazon's philosophy of the spare chair at the table—a seat reserved for the customer. Hillier and his team deliberately examine problems from multiple stakeholder angles, which directly informs the balance and integration of their three service streams.
Whether advising on ESG delivery, MMC industrialization, or commercial strategy, the consultancy maintains this stakeholder-centric lens, as detailed in this podcast conversation . That philosophy also shapes how the firm itself operates: it maintains a disciplined cash position, spending £20 optimizing current business for every £80 invested in thinking ahead about what the firm will become in the next five years.
"Take your work seriously, but yourself far less so. We have got massive productivity issues that if we do not fix, we're going to be in a real mess in five or 10 years."
Jamie Hillier — Co-founder and Partner, Akerlof. Hillier spent approximately 20 years at a tier one major contractor, progressing from site QS to pre-construction director for major projects in healthcare, custodial, and public social infrastructure. He co-founded Akerlof with John and Ellie in late 2019, building the firm into a boutique consultancy with sub-10 directly employed staff and an associate model scaling to about 20 people.
