The Practical Planning Company Ltd

The first time I went self - employed I was 18 and had just finished my carpentry and joinery apprenticeship. That self employment gave me the ability and flexibility I needed to not only study at night to gain my HND in construction and Maths A level but helped me pay for my university fees. I remained a self employed joiner until I moved to Nottingham at the age of 22 and wanted to put my new Architecture degree to good use.

I managed to find a small local design firm that would give me chance if I remained self employed. Working with them we managed to create a large client base and expand the company taking on multiple apprentices, and more employees and we got to a point where the company was financially stable enough to take me on as a full time employee. That was my first year out as an architectural designer.

Over the next 3 years I helped the company go from strength to strength. We completed 100's of design projects from new front porches to new builds and even the odd "grand design". The work was enjoyable, the clients were happy and we were doing very well. Although the business wasn't mine I liked to think I was an integral part of it and helped them grow from a team of four to a team of twelve and we were all working well together.

In 2019 the owners decided to aggressively expand the business, which was brilliant. We introduced new systems to cope with the larger client base and hired new managers and administrators to cope with the extra workload. By this time I had worked my way up to principal designer and was overseeing the work of two other designers and was tackling the larger, more complex projects. We were coping with the expansion very well and were ensuring our clients had a smooth design experience and I believe we were providing an excellent service.

Unfortunately in May the owners decided to start exploring other avenues of revenue and as a result we lost two key senior members of our team with no notice. This essentially left the responsibility of running the entire core business to me and the two designers under me. At this point we started to struggle with the work load and as a result our time scales increased. This meant that I couldn't give the customers the dedicated time they deserved to talk through every aspect of their build, ensure they have a full understanding of their drawings and how they can use them to get builders on site and building.

This, in my opinion, is the most important part of being and architectural designer. Your client deserves as much time as they need to get the most out of the design service so they can approach builders with confidence. This is what I want to do for everyone who is planning an extension and is the ultimate reason I started my company.

1 - We offer simple fixed fees and payment terms which makes the process affordable.
2 - We offer flexible hours for site visits and meetings to work around busy lifestyles.
3 - We have a huge amount of experience in design and can give you great ideas to help create your dream home.
4 - We have a quick turnaround rate on drawings so you don't have to wait a month before seeing your initial design. We like to work to 5 working days.
5 - We consider you, the client, the most important person to us. without you we wouldn't exist.