Imagine if all the entrepreneurs who left Davis Langdon and EC Harris a few years back to set up their own boutique consultancies came together today? There was a time not long ago when a certain cluster of mid- to large-sized competitors, such as Gleeds and Gardiner & Theobald, believed their place as the preferred independent gurus up against a set of new global corporates was set in stone. And the likes of Currie & Brown, which now operates at scale under foreign-owned Dar Group, believed they could have the best of both worlds marketing themselves as having local expertise with real global backing. 

But the new kids on the block are giving them a run for their money and the creation of a new unified business by these like-minded, highly skilled quantity surveying entrepreneurs could be a game changer. Most of them have been trained and raised at Davis Langdon, considered the best consulting school in the industry, and should they suddenly convene under one powerful consulting umbrella it would create a force to be reckoned with – and one likely to grow at a pace. Perhaps Paul Morrell, former senior partner of Davis Langdon, could facilitate and bring all the politics and remuneration together? Perhaps they need a wise old owl chairman who knows the game? Perhaps Morrell should have done this in the first place instead of trying to make a difference with government. 

The pages of Building over the years have been full of news about the corporate bust-ups over the ownership and partnership structures of consultancies in this sector – not to mention the clashes of a few egos