RIBA Business Benchmarking - 2019 Report

RIBA
Business
Benchmarking
2019
Report prepared for the RIBA by
The Fees Bureau

1
RIBA Business Benchmarking - 2019 Report

RIBA
Business Benchmarking
2019
More practices, more staff, higher revenues. This year’s benchmarking statistics
continue to show the trend we have seen in recent years – a growing profession.
Record practice revenues reflect record staff numbers; in total, Chartered Practices
have increased their revenue by a massive 13 per cent in the last 12 months.
Cumulatively, revenues have more than doubled since 2012. Most practice sizes
have enjoyed some growth this year, but it is a diverse picture. Large practices, those
with 100+ staff, are driving forward at a faster rate than the rest. For these practices,
rising staff numbers have helped raise their share of total revenue, with the result that
this small number of practices now accounts for very nearly half of the profession’s
total revenue. What’s more, practices with 100+ staff account for 70 per cent of the
growth in total revenue experienced since 2015.

An unexpected finding this year is that the growth in revenue has not been matched
by a growth in profits. Instead, expenditure has increased, mainly due to practices
recruiting more staff. It’s not just large practices that are experiencing a lack of growth
in their profits; this stagnation is affecting nearly all practice sizes. The rise in staff
numbers seems to have kept salary rises down too; average salaries have risen by
just 1 or 2 per cent, while Partners’ and Directors’ pay is actually slightly lower than
last year.

Chartered Practices have successfully brought in more revenue; but this year’s
growth has been almost entirely negated by rising costs. Any celebration of this
year’s record revenues needs to be tempered by concern for the future. Profits
are static, which is not a good position to be in at this point in the economic cycle.
A combination of more careful management of costs and a longer term approach
to business planning could help to secure future profitability.

Aziz Mirza, Vince Nacey

Directors, The Fees Bureau

2
RIBA Business Benchmarking - 2019 Report

2019 Summary

44,000 173,000
£3.6 bn
Revenue from
staff projects all Chartered
Practices in 2019

50,000 50,000
Number of staff, all Chartered Practices

40,000 40,000 100+ Staff numbers

100+

8% higher
Female Female
Female
36% Female
36%

30,000 30,000

in 2019
10 to <20 10 to <20

50 to <100 50 to <100
20,000 20,000
5 to <10 5 to <10
Male Male Male Male
63% 63%
10,000 20 to <50 20 to <50
10,000

3 to <5 3 to <5
2 2
1 1
0 0
2015 2016 2017 20152018 20162019 2017 2018 2019

Revenue higher by £million, all Chartered Practices

13% in 2019
4,000

3,000

All of this increase 2,000 Expenditure

has gone on higher

expenditure; profits
1,000

remain flat. 0
2015 2016 2017 2018
Profits
2019
4000

£103m £144m
£177m £625m
worth of
international
£132m
work in 2019

higher by
22%

3
RIBA Business Benchmarking - 2019 Report

Key benchmarks 2019 by practice size

Practice size 1 Other
Revenue £53,000 Commercial

Expenditure £24,000

Profit £24,000 Private

housing

800 practices
Salary Projects
800 employed
£24,000 Partner/Director/Sole Principal Number worked on during the year: 15
1% of work is international
Bid success rate: 59%

Practice size 2 Other

Revenue £110,000
Commercial

Expenditure £47,000

Profit £46,000 Private

housing

500 practices Salary Projects

1,100 employed £27,000 Partner/Director/Sole Principal Number worked on during the year: 23
5% of work is international £23,000 Architect (5+ years ARB) Bid success rate: 61%

Practice size 3 to <5 Other

Revenue £170,000

Expenditure £102,000 Commercial

Profit £57,000 Private

housing

600 practices
2,200 employed Salary Projects
5% of work is international £33,000 Partner/Director/Sole Principal Number worked on during the year: 29
£35,000 Architect (5+ years ARB) Bid success rate: 54%

Practice size 5 to <10 Other

Revenue £374,000

Expenditure £253,000
Commercial
Profit £91,000 Private
housing

700 practices
Salary Projects
4,800 employed
£45,000 Partner/Director/Sole Principal Number worked on during the year: 47
6% of work is international
£37,000 Architect (5+ years ARB) Bid success rate: 53%

4
RIBA Business Benchmarking - 2019 Report

Key benchmarks 2019 by practice size

Practice size 10 to <20 Other Private
Revenue £911,000 housing

Expenditure £607,000

Profit £185,000 Commercial

400 practices
Salary Projects
6,000 employed
£66,000 Partner/Director/Sole Principal Number worked on during the year: 98
9% of work is international
£40,000 Architect (5+ years ARB) Bid success rate: 49%

Practice size 20 to <50 Private

Revenue £2.6m Other housing

Expenditure £1.8m

Profit £0.4m
Commercial

200 practices Salary Projects

8,000 employed £87,000 Partner/Director/Sole Principal Number worked on during the year: 105
6% of work is international £40,000 Architect (5+ years ARB) Bid success rate: 45%

Private
Practice size 50 to <100 housing
Revenue £5.5m Other

Expenditure £4.6m

Profit £0.5m
Commercial

80 practices Salary Projects

5,000 employed £101,000 Partner/Director/Sole Principal Number worked on during the year: 181
12% of work is international £43,000 Architect (5+ years ARB) Bid success rate: 37%

Private
Practice size 100+ Revenue £32m Other
housing

Expenditure £24m

Profit £3m
Commercial

50 practices Salary Projects

17,000 employed £177,000 Partner/Director/Sole Principal Number worked on during the year: 277
28% of work is international £44,000 Architect (5+ years ARB) Bid success rate: 32%

Note: Average expenditure plus average profit does not necessarily sum to average revenue because of differing accounting
methods among Chartered Practices.

5
Interact with the benchmarking data at:
www.ribabenchmark.com

Learn more about the interactive RIBA Benchmarking Tool

by watching the explanatory video:
https://www.architecture.com/knowledge-and-resources/resources-landing-page/business-benchmarking