Sussed

What Sussed does

Sussed Sustainability Limited is a Glasgow-based environmental consultancy that advises UK public sector, commercial, and residential clients on achieving high-performance, low-carbon buildings. Founded in 2020 as a joint venture between Holmes Miller, John Gilbert Architects, and Armila Sustainability, the firm operates as a boutique professional services practice led by three founding directors — Matt Bridgestock, Mark Ellson, and Leanne Hannah — each with 15+ years of sector experience. Its client base is organised across four verticals: Education, Healthcare, Leisure (including energy-intensive swimming pool facilities), and Workplaces.

The firm's core offering is a four-pillar service portfolio that follows a building's full lifecycle: Project Briefing (defining climate, wellness, and resilience benchmarks), Fabric First Approach (Certified Passivhaus Designer-led Passivhaus/EnerPHit certification supported by PhPP energy modelling), Carbon Assessment (Life Cycle Assessment to PAS2080 covering operational and embodied carbon), and Soft Landings/GSL (mandatory Government Soft Landings compliance with Post Occupancy Evaluation). These services are delivered by a pool of certified Passivhaus Designers, BREEAM assessors, PAS 2030 accredited designers, and building performance specialists.

Sussed earns revenue through project-based professional services engagements priced on a quote-per-engagement basis, with no disclosed pricing model, recurring managed-service component, or published rate card. Distribution is entirely direct — UK-only client engagement supported by a content-led corporate website — and there is no software product, API, or platform offering. Ownership remains with the three JV parents, with no venture or private equity capital raised to date.

Name

Sussed

Legal name

Sussed Sustainability Limited

Website

https://wearesussed.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sussed is a Glasgow-based sustainable design environmental consultancy providing Passivhaus certification, carbon assessment, and post-occupancy evaluation services to UK public sector, commercial, and residential clients. Founded in 2020 as a joint venture of three architecture and sustainability firms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainable Building Environmental Consultancy

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAHACAK

Sustainability & ESG Consulting

Business & Public Services/Professional Services (Legal, Accounting, Consulting)/Management Consulting

Keywords

• Sustainable building consultancy
• Passivhaus design services
• Carbon assessment consulting
• Breeam certification advisory
• Environmental design consultancy

Headquarters

HQ city

Glasgow

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Environmental Consultancy Services: Sussed provides professional consulting services for sustainable building design, including Passivhaus certification guidance, carbon assessment, and project management. Revenue is generated through project-based professional services engagements with public and private sector clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Sussed is an environmental consultancy providing sustainable building design services across four pillars: Project Briefing (defining green credentials and benchmarks), Fabric First Approach (Passivhaus and EnerPHit certification with PhPP modelling), Carbon Assessment (Life Cycle Assessment to PAS2080 for operational and embodied carbon), and Soft Landings/GSL (post-construction transition including Post Occupancy Evaluation). Services are delivered through a team of certified Passivhaus Designers, BREEAM assessors, and PAS 2030 accredited designers to public sector, commercial, and residential clients across the UK.

Product overview

Sussed is a collaborative and sustainable design driven environmental consultancy offering a unified service portfolio centered on green building certification and carbon reduction. The core offerings include Project Briefing (defining sustainability credentials), Fabric First Approach (Passivhaus/EnerPHit certification), Carbon Assessment (PAS2080 Life Cycle Assessment), and Soft Landings/GSL (post-construction performance optimization). All services work holistically to improve building comfort, reduce costs, and cut carbon across public sector, commercial, and residential projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Project Briefing Assists clients in defining green credentials through specific project briefs focused on climate, wellness, and resilience. Defines clear methodologies and benchmarks for operational performance, fabric first design, daylighting, and healthy space. Targeted at UK public sector, commercial, and residential clients commissioning sustainable buildings.
• Fabric First Approach Passivhaus-certified design service providing high occupant comfort with minimal energy usage. Includes guidance through Passivhaus Standards for new build and EnerPHit Standards for retrofit projects, with PhPP modelling for performance assessment and validation on completion. Delivered by Certified Passivhaus Designers for UK public sector, commercial, and residential clients.
• Carbon Assessment Evaluates climate impact including operational carbon (energy for heating and power) and embodied carbon (manufacturing, production, and transportation of building materials). Uses Life Cycle Assessment methodology to PAS2080 standard to enable carbon neutrality through construction and operation of a project. Targeted at UK building owners and developers pursuing carbon neutrality certification.
• Soft Landings / GSL Defined strategy for smooth transition from construction to occupation, ensuring optimisation of operational performance. Includes Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE), aftercare, monitoring, and evaluation to deliver specific solutions meeting mandatory Government Soft Landings (GSL) criteria for publicly procured UK projects.

Quantifiable outcome

• Minimal energy usage for heating and cooling through Passivhaus design
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Holmes MillercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHolmes Miller is an architectural and interior design practice. Sussed is a joint venture between Holmes Miller, John Gilbert Architects, and Armila Sustainability, combining expertise in sustainable building design and environmental consultancy.
• John Gilbert ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJohn Gilbert Architects is an architecture firm focused on sustainable design. Sussed is a joint venture between Holmes Miller, John Gilbert Architects, and Armila Sustainability, combining expertise in sustainable building design and environmental consultancy.
• Armila SustainabilitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArmila Sustainability is a sustainability consultancy. Sussed is a joint venture between Holmes Miller, John Gilbert Architects, and Armila Sustainability, combining expertise in sustainable building design and environmental consultancy.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Etude: Etude is a UK environmental design consultancy focused on Passivhaus, BREEAM, Net Zero Carbon and low-energy building design – directly overlapping with Sussed's core service stack and serving the same UK public and commercial building sectors.
• Elementa Consulting: Elementa is a UK sustainability and building services consultancy advising on low-carbon, Passivhaus and Net Zero building design, closely matching Sussed's services, certifications and public sector client focus.
• XCO2 Energy: XCO2 is a UK building sustainability and carbon consultancy providing Passivhaus, BREEAM and embodied/operational carbon assessment – a direct technical and geographic peer to Sussed's sustainability consultancy offering.
• Useful Simple Projects: Useful Simple Projects is a UK sustainability and environmental design consultancy supporting Passivhaus, BREEAM and Net Zero delivery on education, health and civic projects – highly comparable to Sussed in niche and method.

Broad incumbents

• Hoare Lea: Hoare Lea is a leading UK MEP and sustainability engineering consultancy with strong BREEAM, Passivhaus and Net Zero delivery – an established incumbent whose sustainability team competes with Sussed for mid-to-large UK building projects.
• Hydrock (now Stantec): Hydrock, acquired by Stantec, operated a UK sustainability and building performance consultancy (BREEAM, Passivhaus, energy strategy) overlapping with Sussed's services across the same UK education, healthcare and commercial sectors.
• Max Fordham: Max Fordham is an established UK building services and sustainability engineering consultancy with deep Passivhaus and low-carbon expertise – a much larger incumbent competing for the same high-performance UK building briefs.
• Cundall: Cundall is a global multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy with a substantial UK sustainability practice spanning BREEAM, Passivhaus and Net Zero – a broader incumbent overlapping Sussed's services but across a much wider portfolio.
• Buro Happold: Buro Happold is a global engineering consultancy with a significant built-environment sustainability practice covering BREEAM, LEED, Passivhaus and embodied carbon – a broad incumbent competing with Sussed on larger UK public sector commissions.
• WSP: WSP is a global professional services firm with a large UK sustainability, environment and building performance practice spanning BREEAM, embodied carbon and ESG – a broad incumbent that frequently competes for large-scale public sector sustainability commissions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Sussed