Michael Donnelly,
PlanningResource,
26 November 2009
Planning consultancy staffing levels and fee income have dropped over the past 18 months as managers try to balance the books in the face of declining workloads and frozen fee rates.
Almost 40 firms responding to the Planning Consultancy Survey 2009 have reduced the number of chartered town planners in the past year and the number is unchanged at another 40.
Just 29 firms grew their RTPI-qualified payrolls in the year to 1 September. The top ten largest consultancy employers have shed around 100 full RTPI members between them.
Barton Willmore has edged ahead of RPS Group as the UK’s largest employer of chartered planners, with 122 against 120.
Both firms have seen double-digit declines in the number of RTPI members since last autumn. Turley Associates and GVA Grimley are the only other firms still with 100 or more fully qualified planners in post.
The 27 firms that saw planning fee income rise in 2008-09 are far outstripped by the 50 that saw their figures drop. In most consultancies, fee rates have been pegged for the past couple of years. Few dare levy higher charges in the present climate.
The consensus of opinion is that the upward growth trend of the past decade finally ground to a halt last year in the face of recession.
Few firms expect to increase staff, turnover or fee rates this financial year but some see confidence returning later in 2010.
All development, infrastructure and services sectors are expected to show at least some growth during 2009-10. Energy planning and waste management are seen as the best bets for fee growth in the current year.
There are even cautious signs of optimism in the housing market, which consultants estimate declined by five per cent in 2008-09. This sector is expected to see modest growth of three per cent this year.
But the turnround will be slow and patchy and could easily be driven off course by the squeeze on public spending and uncertainty over next year’s general election. "I doubt we will see any sustained recovery until later in 2010", says Barton Willmore senior partner Ian Tant.
RPS Group plc remained way ahead on fee income in 2008-09 despite a £5 million drop on the previous year. "We are looking at growth in planning staff numbers across the UK during 2010 and a couple of our offices are looking to recruit sooner than that", said director of planning Chris Simkins.
Some firms are weathering the storm better than others.
"We have had a challenging year, as most markets have turned down", says John Parmiter of Roger Tym & Partners. "But we have been quite resilient and have not had to make the same level of staffing adjustments as many in the sector."
The Planning Consultancy Survey 2009 will be in tomorrow’s Planning Magazine and online here at PlanningResource.
bryan.johnston@haymarket.com
