Top 150 Consultants 2026: How to grow fee income in a volatile world

This time last year, Building magazine asked a key question: are we finally going to see a return to growth? Or will the stagflation seen over the past few years continue?

A year on, and the industry’s optimism seems to have taken a big hit. Our exclusive Top 150 Consultants sentiment survey this year shows a drop in optimism around trading conditions over the next year and increased pessimism about the future economic outlook, amid rising frustration with the Labour government.

Those in the industry hoping for a period of stability have certainly been dismayed by recent geopolitical events.

Iain Parker, director and head of London cost management at Turner & Townsend Alinea, says: “Before the whole Iran issue, I think everyone felt quite chipper about this year. Most people would have said metrics were up in terms of percentages of work secured… everything was looking pretty positive, and I think most felt that this year was going to be a step forward. And then, of course, the Middle East conflict took place, and that dampened the spirit.”

The key question: how are consultants responding to all this volatility?. Our survey of the top 150 consultants once again tracked movements in fee income by sector and their shifting spending priorities, including investment in AI. We also asked consultants to rank their key risks, and we asked them for their verdict on the Labour government and what their key asks of government would be.

All the Top 150 Consultants 2026 coverage

• Top 150 Consultants 2026: the main table
• Top 50 Architects
• Top 50 Engineers
• Top 50 Project Managers
• Top 50 Surveyors  
• Top 150 Consultants 2026: What have firms achieved by using AI?  
• Top 150 Consultants 2026: What should Andy Burnham do to improve the government’s performance for the construction industry?
• AI is already paying off for consultants, but human oversight is becoming the differentiator
• The evolving role of cost management in an age of AI

Despite the drop in sentiment, consultants told us margins are actually increasing and the impacts of the Iran war have yet to affect their business prospects significantly.

So, to what extent is the pessimism justified?

The rankings

Before delving into the sentiment survey findings in detail, let’s look at the Top 150 Consultants table itself, which is ranked by default by UK fee income (although our interactive online tables allow you to sort the firms by various metrics).

This year’s table shows little change right at the top, with the top three spots once again taken by AtkinsRéalis, Mott MacDonald and WSP, which has recently sought to acquire fellow top 10 consultant Arcadis. One big name that is absent from this year’s list is Mace, which earlier this year demerged its consultancy arm and was unable to provide the necessary information.

Among the 33 newcomers this year is engineering giant Arup, which posted fee income of £767m, and Sidara, the parent company of a group that includes Perkins&Will, Currie & Brown, Introba and Penspen, which generated more than £170m.

Firms in the top 20 posting high percentage growth in fee income include Turner & Townsend, Ridge and Partners, and Buro Happold, with rises of 41%, 30% and 25% respectively (see panel below). 

This year, 29 firms reported a drop in annual fee income, an improvement on last year’s figure of 32.

Fee income trends

Overall annual fee income growth has levelled out at 8%, the same as last year. The industry may have avoided a third successive year of slowing growth, but the figure nonetheless remains low compared with the 11% growth seen in 2024 and 16% in 2023.

Parker suspects that, had it not been for the turmoil in the Middle East, the figure may have pushed up to around 10%. “Construction clients like boredom; they like stability. And the confidence is not there in the market at the moment,” he says.

Mark Cleverly, partner at CPC Project Services, sees the slowdown in growth between 2023 and 2026 as a return to a slower market after the “surge in demand post-pandemic”.

So, growth is slower than it was a few years ago, but where is the fee income coming from? We asked the consultants to break down their fees by sector. We then compared income for each sector as a percentage of total income to last year.

Percentage of fee income by sector 

This year’s figures show a slowdown in income from many of the industry’s “traditional” sectors. Income from offices fell by 4.5 percentage points to 9% of the total, and housing fell by 3.6 percentage to 9.8%. This is perhaps not surprising, particularly the latter as the London housebuilding market has slowed down drastically, prompting a package of emergency measures from mayor Sadiq Khan as well as central government.

Health also fell 4.5 percentage points, and there were smaller drops for retail and education.

Conversely, utilities (showing an 11.4 percentage point rise), transport (3.5) and “other building” (0.1%) accounted for a bigger slice of the pie.

Cleverly says the slowdown in some traditional areas means firms are having to “pivot and diversify” into new markets to keep going at a reasonable level of growth.

“If you’re a business that hasn’t been able to pivot into some of these better-growth areas, then you’re going to be hampered and slowed down,” he says, adding that CPC has recently moved resources from its housing teams into data centres.

This need to diversify could drive some consolidation in the sector too, as firms seek to ensure they are equipped to be agile to move into different markets. Parker says: “It is inevitable further M&A activity will continue, with both consolidation taking place and new companies being born out of such activity.”

As Building was producing its analysis, a high-profile example of this desire for M&A could be seen with WSP seeking to acquire Arcadis and having a second bid turned down. Incidentally, the two firms combined had fee income of just under £1.7bn in 2026, which would have secured second place in our table.

Margins and staffing

Fee income may be a good measure of work volume, but the most important metric for a business is obviously profit, and by this measure the situation – on the face of it at least – looks a bit more promising. 

 On average, what are your operating margins?

Nearly two-thirds of firms (63%) this year said their operating margins are 10% or higher, up from 57% a year ago. The percentage saying their margins are moving in a positive direction also increased from 34% to 41%, while, conversely, the proportion of respondents saying their margins are reducing fell from 12% to 10%.

Is it the case that the industry is performing better than it feels? Cleverly suggests it may be, but Parker is more cautious, saying the impacts of the Iran war may not have been felt when the survey was completed earlier in the summer.

On average, in what direction are your margins moving?

Parker also suggests firms may be cutting costs to boost their bottom line, saying: “People may be finding a cheaper way of doing things, perhaps by using technology, or they may be providing a poorer or lesser service to boost their margin.” He adds that bidding has been “super aggressive” recently as firms compete to win work.

Compared with 2024/25, what best describes your clients’ demands?

One obvious way to generate efficiencies is to freeze or cut back on hiring staff or to lay off workers.

This year’s survey shows there is a nine percentage point drop in firms saying they are planning to increase their workforce over the next 12 months, from 79% to 70% of respondents, and a corresponding rise in those saying they will leave staffing levels unchanged.

Are you planning to increase, leave unchanged, or decrease staff over the next 12 months?

This could hint at some nervousness about hiring in the current market. However, the number of firms saying they have laid off more than 10% of their workforce has fallen from 3% to 1% year-on-year.

The economy and trading conditions

One might assume the increase in margins would be grounds for optimism about trading conditions and the economic outlook, but our findings suggest this is not the case.

The percentage of consultants saying their view concerning the general economic outlook is positive halved year-on-year from 26% to 13% – the lowest score since 2021/22. Nearly a quarter of consultants (23%) now have a negative view of the outlook, up from 11% a year ago.

What is your view concerning the general economic outlook? (%)

The percentage of respondents saying they expect trading conditions to improve over the next 12 months fell from 45% to 32%, suggesting the industry is far less optimistic than a year ago. However, 93% of firms still expect conditions to stabilise or improve.

Parker says: “It’s a very volatile world [and] with the sort of political figures that are in play, you can’t really see that settling down quickly.”

What are your expectations regarding trading conditions over the next 12 months?

Biggest risks and the Iran war

The war between the US and Iran, which has led to the Strait of Hormuz being closed to commercial shipping, has caused much concern about the impact on materials prices and the resulting knock-on effects for the construction industry and wider economy. In April, Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the conflict had “wiped out” increased optimism reported seen since last year’s autumn budget.

But a few months on from the war breaking out, how are consultants assessing the impact for their own firms’ immediate prospects?

Have the current disturbances in the Middle East impacted your business prospects for the next 12 months?

Our survey findings show just 2% of consultants think the Middle East disturbances have made their business prospects for the next 12 months “significantly worse”. Nearly half (49%) said the crisis has not impacted their prospects at all, with 48% saying it has made them “slightly worse”.

Biggest risks facing the industry

The Iran war may not have had an immediate impact on business prospects, but the survey responses on biggest risks facing the industry make clear that geopolitical uncertainty is a major concern.

The deepening of the crisis in the Middle East is perhaps the driver behind “geopolitical events” rising from third to second place in the ranking of biggest risks cited by the top 150 consultants this year, leapfrogging “attracting, developing and retaining staff and skills”.

“There is a lot of uncertainty on financial viability and risk of projects due to inflation based on the Iran/US war and oil price spikes,” Webb Yates Engineers said in its survey response. “The Iran war and US tariffs have impacted our economy and clients, reducing development funding opportunities and the number of project starts,” said Project and Building Consultancy.

What do you see as the biggest risks facing your business? (rank)	2025/26	2024/25	2023/24
Macroeconomic conditions and their impact on markets in which the business operates	1	1	1
Geopolitical events including trade relations and tariffs, and international wars	2	3	2
Attracting, developing and retaining staff and skills	3	2	3
Government regulations, such as new obligations under the Building Safety Act	4	4	4
Financial health of the business and its ability to access funding and maintain liquidity	5	5	5
Climate change	6	6	6

Others, such as Exigere Project Services, said the combined effect of the Iran and Ukraine wars is “causing ongoing uncertainty in the UK market and impacting material and transportation costs”.

While concern about the geopolitical picture appears to be rising, “macroeconomic conditions and their impact on the markets in which the business operates” was once again rated the biggest risk by the most consultants.

“Our biggest risk is the wider macroeconomic environment, as changes in interest rates, inflation and growth directly affect demand, investment activity and development pipelines in our markets,” said Newmark.

“Macroeconomic conditions rank highest because they directly shape client investment appetite and development pipelines across our core sectors, residential, BTR and commercial,” said ADP Consulting and Engineering.

“Attracting, developing and retaining staff and skills” placed third in the list, one place lower than last year. However, 36 firms mentioned skills specifically in their submissions, suggesting it remains a key concern.

“A persistent skills shortage across the industry, coupled with the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, is creating significant challenges in recruiting and retaining talent. Addressing workforce development and improving the attractiveness of careers within the sector will be critical to meeting future demand,” said Elliott Wood Partnership.

Government regulations, financial health and funding, and climate change came fourth, fifth and sixth in the list respectively.

Spending priorities

Faced with the challenge of growing a business despite these multiple challenges and risks, where are consultants looking to invest?

As usual, Building asked firms whether they are increasing, maintaining or decreasing spend in several key areas.

Do you intend to increase, maintain or decrease spending on any of the following? (%)	Increase		Maintain		Decrease
	2025/26	2024/25	2025/26	2024/25	2025/26	2024/25
Investment in digital technology (software, IT and AI products)	84	84	16	16	1	-
Investment in skills (retraining and upskilling)	62	67	38	33	-	-
Improving net zero services offerings	46	60	52	39	3	1
Improving productivity	85	79	15	20	-	1
Physical assets (office space, hardware etc)	29	35	65	59	7	6
Staff recruitment	66	64	34	34	1	3

Spending more on improving productivity was cited by 85% of respondents, up from 79% last year, perhaps an indication of the rising importance of efficient use of resources in volatile times. Spending on digital technology also remains high, with 84% of respondents planning to spend more this year, which is perhaps reflective of the perceived rising importance of AI to businesses (see more below).

The biggest fall was in the number of those saying they intend to spend more on net zero services offerings, with 46% planning an increase compared with 60% last year.

Cleverly suggests this change may be because “firms have had longer to get used to net zero” and now have their offerings in a good place. Parker says: “Clients are not grabbing at net zero like they were a couple of years ago.”

Has the amount you have invested in cyber security changed in the last year?

One specific area within digital technology in which firms are increasing investment is cyber security. For the first time, we asked consultants whether their spend on cyber security has increased. Two in three respondents (66%) said they have invested more in their defences compared with last year.

Parker says he is not surprised that such a high proportion of firms are investing more in cyber security. “It doesn’t always matter how big you are; it can seriously affect your business if you get into trouble. I know of several small businesses who have been held to ransom; it’s quite scary.”

Artificial intelligence

The risks around cyber security are not enough, however, to stop consultants from placing a growing importance on AI and seeking to grow their use of AI tools.

The survey findings show the percentage of firms saying AI and machine learning is “extremely important” to the transformation of their business has grown for the third successive year. A total of 54% of respondents say it is extremely important, up from 50% last year. A total of 91% of firms say AI is extremely or very important, up from 75% three years ago.

How important do you think AI and machine learning will be to the transformation of your business over the next 10 years?

Similarly 87% of firms have invested more in AI this year compared with last year, with more than a third (36%) investing “significantly” more.

Has the amount you invested in AI technology changed in the last year compared with the previous year?

This year we also asked firms what percentage of staff they consider to be AI literate. A total of 47% said more than half of their staff are AI literate, while nearly one in five consultants (19%) said three-quarters of their staff are.

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Rating the Labour government

While conflict abroad has created uncertainty this year, there has also been upheaval in the UK. Keir Starmer announced his resignation as prime minister on 22 June, part way through the period in which our sentiment survey was open.

We once again asked readers to rate the performance of the Labour government to support the built environment since it was elected in 2024.

Please rate the performance of the current UK Labour government to support the built environment sector since it was elected in 2024

Around two-thirds of our respondents answered the survey before Starmer’s announcement. While our survey question asked about historic performance of the government since 2024, some may have answered more positively if they knew a new prime minister was imminent.

So, what did they say? Well, fewer consultants seemed willing to give Labour the benefit of the doubt this time around. Whereas last year 61% of respondents were neutral on the government’s performance, this year this figure dropped to 43%. The percentage calling Labour’s performance “poor” or “very poor” rose from 28% to 44%. In both years the percentage calling the government’s performance “excellent” was 0%.

What should the priorities be for the current Labour administration to boost the fortunes of the construction sector? (rank)	2025/26	2024/25	2023/24
Public sector investment certainty (pipeline of committed projects/programmes)	1	1	1
Planning/infrastructure reform	2	2	2
Skills	3	3	3
Tax reform	4	4	6
Procurement reform	5	6	5
Sustainability/net zero	6	5	4

“It looks like the doubters have run out of patience,” says Cleverly. “It would be interesting to see, if you did the survey again [now], whether you’d see a Burnham bounce.”

Asked what the priorities should be for the government, consultants’ top three answers were the same, and in the same order, as for the previous two years, namely public sector investment certainty, planning or infrastructure reform and skills.

Cleverly suggests that it’s the fact the industry keeps asking for the same things and doesn’t feel the government is making sufficient progress, that may be driving the disillusionment with the government.

<< Click here to find out more about the consultants think of Labour’s performance to date>>

Overall, this year’s survey shows the industry trying to work out how to respond to yet more uncertainty in the market. Margins are rising but disruption abroad has killed a lot of enthusiasm in the short term.

Firms are looking at diversification into new markets as traditional sectors struggle and are prioritising spend to increase productivity, with AI and digital technology being seen as increasingly important to business transformation over the coming decade.

The industry will be crossing its fingers and hoping for more stability at home and abroad over the coming year.