Thorncliffe

What Thorncliffe does

Thorncliffe Communications Ltd is a privately held London-based B2B professional services firm founded in 1999 that helps developers, housebuilders, local authorities, and energy and infrastructure companies navigate the UK planning process by securing community support and councillor engagement. The firm operates through two primary brands: Thorncliffe, which focuses on engaging local councillors to win planning committee approval (claiming a 95% resolution-to-grant success rate on pre-application consultations), and Your Shout, which runs community consultation, public exhibitions, statutory consultations (SCIs), charrettes, and workshops. The firm's competitive proposition rests on staff comprising senior councillors, council leaders, and political activists, supported by an ORCL-approved externally-enforced Code of Conduct, Investors in People Gold accreditation, and an ISO27001-design-aligned information security management system.

The technology stack centres on the proprietary communityUK consultation portal (communityuk.live), which enables interactive online community engagements, alongside the localcouncils.co.uk resource platform for local-government professionals. Data infrastructure uses NationBuilder for resident data management, MailChimp for the subscription-based Planning Committee Digest and Local Councils Week newsletters, and standard social media integrations. The platform supplements — but does not replace — the firm's core fieldwork, which involves canvassing, door-knocking, and direct engagement to identify local supporters willing to voice support at planning committees.

The business model is project-based professional services revenue, with pricing determined per engagement by scope, location, and complexity rather than disclosed publicly. Ancillary recurring revenue comes from the email newsletter subscriptions distributed via MailChimp. The firm operates a single London headquarters (007 China Works, 100 Black Prince Road, Albert Embankment) and serves clients primarily across London and the Home Counties, with a notable track record spanning the £4.5bn Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration, Pan Peninsula, AFC Wimbledon, AELTC, and an expanding pipeline of solar, BESS, data centre, and wind energy projects. Customer acquisition is entirely direct, B2B, and relationship-driven, with no external funding rounds, M&A activity, or parent company affiliations disclosed.

Name

Thorncliffe

Legal name

Thorncliffe Communications Ltd

Website

https://thorncliffe.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Thorncliffe Communications Ltd is a London-based B2B professional services firm helping developers, housebuilders, local authorities, and energy companies obtain planning committee approval through community consultation and councillor engagement, reporting a 95% success rate.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Planning Committee Consultation Services: Pre-application consultation services for developers, housebuilders, and infrastructure companies seeking planning approvals. The company engages with local councillors and communities to gain resolution to grant at planning committees.
2. Community Engagement Services: Public exhibitions, statutory consultation (SCI), charrettes, workshops, and interactive online engagements to help clients discover local support and voice that support at committee.
3. Planning Committee Digest Subscriptions: Email digest publications including the London & Home Counties Planning Committee Digest and Local Councils Week digest, distributed via MailChimp to subscribed professionals.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Thorncliffe is a UK-based B2B professional services consultancy that helps developers, housebuilders, local authorities, and energy/infrastructure companies secure planning committee approval. Through its Thorncliffe brand it engages directly with local councillors, and through its Your Shout brand it runs community consultation programmes including public exhibitions, statutory consultations (SCIs), charrettes, and workshops, using its proprietary communityUK consultation portal for online engagement.

Product overview

Thorncliffe Communications Ltd operates two primary brands: Thorncliffe and Your Shout, complemented by the communityUK consultation portal and localcouncils.co.uk resource platform. The Thorncliffe brand focuses on planning committee approval services with a 95% success rate, staffed by former councillors and political activists who engage with local elected members. The Your Shout brand provides community consultation services including public exhibitions, statutory consultations, charettes, and workshops, powered by the proprietary communityUK consultation portal. The company also offers subscription-based newsletter services (Planning Committee Digest and Local Councils Week Digest) for industry professionals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Planning Committee Approval Services Engagement and lobbying of local councillors on behalf of developers, housebuilders, local authorities, and energy/infrastructure companies pursuing planning permission. Reported 95% resolution-to-grant success rate on pre-application consultations where the firm is retained.
• Your Shout Community Consultation Community consultation programme for clients needing to demonstrate local support at planning committee. Includes public exhibitions, statutory consultations (SCIs), charrettes, workshops, and direct resident engagement, supported by the proprietary communityUK consultation portal.
• communityUK Consultation Portal Proprietary online consultation portal used by Thorncliffe to conduct interactive community engagements and consultation processes in support of client planning applications.
• London & Home Counties Planning Committee Digest Subscription email digest providing planning committee intelligence to subscribers in the London and Home Counties area.
• Local Councils Week Digest Subscription email digest providing weekly news and updates on UK local councils, targeted at local government professionals.

Quantifiable outcome

• 95% success rate at gaining resolution to grant where the company undertakes pre-application consultation
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThorncliffe has partnered with the IEA as part of their social values initiative to tackle the housing emergency and address barriers to building more homes.
• Land AidminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThorncliffe has partnered with Land Aid as part of their social values initiative to address the housing emergency and help young people access homes at affordable prices.
• NationBuildercoreTechnology or IntegrationNationBuilder is used as the platform for storing resident data as part of Thorncliffe's information security management system.
• Google AnalyticscoreTechnology or IntegrationGoogle Analytics is used as an IT service provider for tracking and analytics.
• MailChimpcoreTechnology or IntegrationMailChimp is used as the marketing platform for distributing email digests including the Planning Committee Digest and Local Councils Week.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Montagu Evans: London-headquartered real-estate consultancy with a planning and development team advising on major UK schemes. Comparable to Thorncliffe in its focus on complex, contested London planning applications.
• Lexington Communications: UK public-affairs and government-relations consultancy advising corporates and trade bodies on stakeholder engagement, political lobbying and planning-related campaigns. Direct peer for the political-insider engagement dimension of Thorncliffe's offer.
• Lichfields: UK planning, development and economics consultancy serving residential, retail, energy and infrastructure clients. Competes for the same planning-application engagement work as Thorncliffe across London and the regions.
• Turley: UK planning, design and economics consultancy advising developers, housebuilders and public-sector clients on planning applications and stakeholder engagement. Closest direct peer to Thorncliffe in scale, geography and service mix.
• Alder King: UK property consultancy offering planning, development consultancy and project services to housebuilders and developers. Mid-sized peer that overlaps Thorncliffe's residential and mixed-use planning engagement work.
• Carter Jonas: UK property consultancy with planning, development and rural teams serving landowners, developers and public bodies. Comparable in offering planning advice and stakeholder engagement on residential and infrastructure schemes.

Broad incumbents

• CBRE: Global real-estate services firm with a UK planning and development advisory practice advising housebuilders, investors and occupiers. Comparable capability but operates at much greater scale and across a wider service portfolio.
• Savills: Global real-estate advisory with a substantial UK planning and development consultancy division. Overlaps Thorncliffe in planning applications for large residential, commercial and mixed-use schemes, but as part of a much broader real-estate platform.
• JLL: Global real-estate and investment-management firm offering UK planning, development consulting and project services. Competitor for developer-side planning mandates but as one capability among many.
• Knight Frank: Global real-estate consultancy with UK development-consulting and planning teams serving landowners, housebuilders and investors. Overlaps Thorncliffe on residential and mixed-use planning applications at the higher-value end of the market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thorncliffe
• Xx.com/thorncliffecomm

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Thorncliffe