What McBains does

McBains is a privately held UK property and construction consultancy headquartered at 26 Finsbury Square, London, with additional offices in Maidenhead, Manchester, Nottingham, and Athens (via the McBains Cooper Hellas subsidiary). The firm delivers multidisciplinary professional services across 14 core disciplines — architecture, asset management, building services engineering, building safety compliance, building surveying, civil and structural engineering, clerk of works/NEC supervision, cost management, digital engineering (BIM), employer's agent, housing and masterplanning, project management, project monitoring and due diligence, and sustainability and ESG — and applies these across 13+ sector specializations including blue light, civic and government, education, healthcare, heritage, hotel and leisure, industrial and logistics, office and commercial, regeneration, residential, retail, retrofit, science and technology, and transport.

The firm's revenue is generated through fee-based professional consultancy engagements: competitive tenders, direct appointments, and recurring work booked under UK public sector framework agreements (GCA Construction Professionals Services 2, AMPSS, ESPO, CCS Estate Management Services 2). Customer segments are evenly split across UK central government departments, NHS trusts, local authorities, and educational institutions on the public side, and developers, institutional investors, corporate occupiers, and hotel operators on the private side — including DWP, UKAEA, GPA, University Hospitals Sussex, NatWest, SEGRO, Battersea Power Station, Eton College, and Graduate Hotels. Pricing is project-scope-based and not publicly disclosed.

McBains operates as a people-led consultancy rather than a technology platform: no public or partner-facing API, no proprietary software products, and no AI/ML capability is disclosed in the source material. Its delivery backbone is integrated multidisciplinary teams, a seniority-heavy management bench (Managing Director Clive Docwra plus four Board Directors and multiple sector Directors), and long-tenured client relationships — exemplified by the SEGRO engagement running since the 1980s and the NatWest framework since 2012 — supported by a thought-leadership programme anchored on bi-annual Construction Market Reports.

Name

McBains

Legal name

McBains

Website

https://mcbains.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1785

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

McBains is a privately held UK property and construction consultancy delivering multidisciplinary architecture, engineering, project management, cost management, building surveying, and asset management services to public sector bodies and private developers across the UK, Greece, and Cyprus.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional Consultancy Services: Fee-based professional services spanning architecture, engineering, project management, cost management, building surveying, and asset management. Revenue is generated through project-based engagements, framework agreements, and consultancy contracts with public and private sector clients.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

McBains is a multi-disciplinary property and construction consultancy that provides architecture, project management, cost management, building surveying, civil and structural engineering, building services engineering, asset management, BIM digital engineering, project monitoring, employer's agent, and sustainability advisory services. The firm serves both public sector clients (UK central and local government, NHS, education institutions) and private sector clients (developers, investors, hotel operators, banks, logistics companies) through framework agreements, direct appointments and competitive tenders across the UK, Greece and Cyprus.

Product overview

McBains is a UK-based property and construction consultancy offering multidisciplinary professional services through a unified platform approach. The firm provides 14 core service disciplines (Architecture, Asset Management, Building Services Engineering, Building Safety Compliance, Building Surveying, Civil & Structural Engineering, Clerk of Works/NEC Supervisor, Cost Management, Digital Engineering/BIM, Employer's Agent, Housing & Masterplanning, Project Management, Project Monitoring & Due Diligence, and Sustainability & ESG) organized around 13 sector specializations (Blue Light, Civic & Government, Education, Healthcare, Heritage, Hotel & Leisure, Industrial & Logistics, Office & Commercial, Regeneration & Urban Development, Residential, Retail, Retrofit, Science & Technology, and Transport & Infrastructure). Services are delivered through integrated multidisciplinary teams, with public sector clients accessing expertise via national framework agreements. The firm also publishes bi-annual Construction Market Reports as thought leadership content.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architecture
• Project Management
• Cost Management
• Building Surveying
• Civil & Structural Engineering
• Building Services Engineering
• Asset Management
• Digital Engineering (BIM)
• Project Monitoring & Due Diligence
• Employer's Agent
• Clerk of Works / NEC Supervisor
• Housing & Masterplanning
• Building Safety Compliance
• Sustainability & ESG
• Civic & Government Sector Services
• Healthcare Sector Services
• Education Sector Services
• Blue Light Sector Services
• Hotel & Leisure Sector Services
• Industrial & Logistics Sector Services
• Science & Technology Sector Services
• Residential Sector Services
• Office & Commercial Sector Services
• Regeneration & Urban Development Services
• Heritage Sector Services
• Retail Sector Services
• Retrofit Services
• Transport & Infrastructure Sector Services

Named customers15 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SEGROcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1980Long-standing relationship since the 1980s with SEGRO, the specialist logistics property company. McBains provides quantity surveying, project management, and employer's agent services for the management, maintenance, and development of SEGRO's property portfolio, particularly on the Slough Trading Estate.
• CleanConscienceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with CleanConscience, a charity specialising in reclamation and redistribution of redundant or surplus assets. McBains supports the charity's mission, potentially through provision of services or resources for charity projects.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pick Everard: UK-headquartered multi-disciplinary property and construction consultancy offering architecture, cost management, project management, building surveying and engineering services to public and private sector clients — directly comparable to McBains in size, service mix and client base.
• Ridge and Partners LLP: UK multi-disciplinary consultancy providing project management, cost consultancy, building surveying, architecture and engineering across public, commercial, healthcare, education and heritage sectors — closely matches McBains' service breadth and sector mix.
• Hydrock (now part of Stantec): UK engineering, design and property consultancy (now owned by Stantec) covering buildings, infrastructure and development services — comparable multi-disciplinary offering and similar mid-market positioning before its acquisition.
• Curtins: UK structural and civil engineering consultancy with broader multi-disciplinary services including project management, building surveying and heritage work — similar size band and sector overlap with McBains.
• Waterman Group: UK-based multi-disciplinary engineering and environmental consultancy serving property, infrastructure, environmental and energy markets — comparable service portfolio including structural engineering, building services and sustainability advisory.
• BDP (Building Design Partnership): Major UK architecture, engineering and consultancy practice with strong public sector, healthcare, education and heritage credentials — overlaps heavily with McBains' sector specialisations and multi-disciplinary delivery model.

Broad incumbents

• Turner & Townsend: Global cost management, project management and advisory consultancy with strong UK public and private sector franchise — overlaps with McBains' cost management, project monitoring and employer's agent services at larger scale.
• WSP: Global professional services consultancy with significant UK property and buildings practice — competes with McBains for engineering, project management and advisory mandates but offers a much wider service portfolio and international delivery capability.
• Mace Group: UK-headquartered international consultancy and construction group offering project management, cost consultancy and construction services — competes with McBains for public sector and developer-led work but operates at significantly greater scale.
• Mott MacDonald: Global multi-disciplinary engineering, project management and consultancy firm with significant UK public sector and infrastructure presence — competes with McBains for framework work but at much larger scale and broader geographic reach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mcbains
• Xx.com/McBainsLtd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about McBains