SOCIAL MEDIA ZEITGEIST

 

The Northwest Small Practice Forum (NSPF) is a growing network of architects who share a simple mission: to support and empower small practices in the region. The forum emerged from a shared frustration with the lack of accessible guidance for small studios. Over its first year, the NSPF has created a thriving platform for exchange, with workshops, collective CPDs, and its inaugural Scale Festival, a month-long exhibition celebrating the diversity of small-scale practice.

In conversation with Beedier, Chair Tom Partridge of Common Practice and director Dan Kelso of Architecture Unknown explain how the Forum came about, what it does, and why it is needed.

 

Beedier: Why did you set up the Forum?

Tom: I think Dan and I both had the same idea at the same time. When I started Common Practice a couple of years ago, I was surprised at how little information and support there was, and I think Dan also found the same thing when he set up Architecture Unknown some years earlier. We realised there was a need for a broader network of businesses who could support each other. There’s a lack of general support and information for small businesses, for example, on how best to market yourself, what software to use, who to use to for insurance, or how to approach the new principal designer role – all the things that you just have no idea about when you start a business.

You definitely feel like you’re reinventing the wheel. There can be a void of information, so learned experience from other businesses is invaluable.

Dan: I don’t really want to have a strong affiliation to RIBA for various reasons. But if you don’t join RIBA, there’s not a lot out there for small practices. You have to go down a very traditional route and look for general business courses.

Tom: To be blunt as well, RIBA is a very London-centric organization, they’ve recently merged RIBA North West, Yorkshire and North East into ‘RIBA North’ and so as a small practice you feel slightly marginalized, even though 98% of all practices in the UK are small. We heard about the London Practice Forum from Suzi Winstanley at Turner Works, and she really gave us a framework for what the NSPF could be. We haven’t been marketing it until now, but everyone we spoke to said this was something they needed.

Beedier: What do you define as being small?

Dan: That’s an interesting question, in the sense that what’s small in London is not small in Manchester. We’re thinking any company that’s up to 10. There’s also an element of mentality as well – creative design studios with very flat structures tend to fall into that small bracket.

Tom: We think of small practices as being where the directors are on the tools and working on the projects. We have a lot of sole traders in the group, one practice that’s maybe 8 or 9, and the rest are 5 and below. We’ve got 25 members at the moment and have a waiting list – we will be looking to grow.

Beedier: What particular issues impact smaller practices, and how can the forum help?

Tom: There are increasing regulatory pressures post-Grenfell. While these apply to all practices, I think these probably impact small practices most, with increased requirements for CPD, increased requirements for demonstrating experience and knowledge, and increased administrative requirements on projects where you’re acting as Principal Designer. So there’s all this additional stuff to know, which is quite difficult to navigate.

Dan: There is a lot of ambiguity in things like the new Building Safety Act. So having a sounding board, someone to ask questions who may have done a course on it (such as Tom) is really useful so that we can all build a good understanding.

The forum has been a great place to share concerns, grievances and positives as well. It’s good for people at small practices to get involved in something external so that they’re not looking inward all the time. I think that probably applies a lot to the very small practices, who can find it quite lonely.

We also organise workshops. We’re going to be doing one with an accountant and another on insurance. We’ve also had groups of practices doing CPDs together.

Beedier: How do members deal with being in competition with one another?

Tom: An important part of the forum is that we acknowledge and embrace competition – we are all competitors. And that competition hopefully makes us all better. If you understand the level of service that other people are providing, hopefully that raises everyone’s standards up. We’ve already had people posting on the group chats to share when there’s a project they can’t take on. Before, that would have never happened, and that project would have disappeared back into the ether. As we’re a trusted network, it feels like you’re supporting a friend.

A tangential issue is that there’s different levels of professionalism in our industry, including a lot of what I would say is quite poor service. So, it would be nice if we can promote our group as a benchmark of quality among small practices. We hope that eventually the NSPF will come to stand for something in that sense.

Beedier: What was your Scale Festival about?

Tom: Principally it was an exhibition, showcasing the work of 22 of our practices. We designed and built it ourselves, with Studio MUTT and Turner Works taking the lead. We used branding agency Studio DBD to create a consistent brand for the event.

As Seesaw in Manchester gave us the space for the exhibition for a month, we decided to run some events alongside the exhibition, so we had three talks and three workshops with developers, local authorities, and frameworks, looking at how small practices fit into the broader ecosystem of development, which were really good, insightful sessions. Beyond the individual session, it was also about starting a conversation with these people and organisations and using the NSPF as a vehicle for soft lobbying. Individual member practices would never be able to sit in a room with the people in charge of development at five different local authorities, but we can as a group.

Beedier: What’s next for the Forum?

Tom: With Scale, we’ve successfully put a flag in the ground for the Forum, and we’ve had a lot of publicity, interest, and support, which has been really positive. We’ve also had a massive influx of interest from people wanting to be part of it.

Now that the Scale Festival is finished, we’re going to take a step back and review how we assess and control membership.

We don’t want this to be a cliquey boys club – that’s the kind of the thing that we’re against – so we have to be very careful about the definitions that we put in place. It has to be built on trust. And then from there, great things will happen.

Beedier: How hard is it to find time for running the Forum alongside your practice?

Dan: It’s been very hard. I’ve had to move things around and see it as a business development opportunity for the company.

Tom: I think it has been at the expense of my business to some extent, but I’m lucky in the sense that, like Dan, I’ve got a co-director, Yan, who has taken up most of the slack that I’ve left, and our colleague Hayley has really helped. If I didn’t have those guys, I wouldn’t have been able to put the time in. It’s not been easy, but it’s been entirely worthwhile.

Beedier: How do you reflect on the achievements of your first year?

Dan: It’s been incredible – we’ve achieved more than I ever thought we could on day one. It just shows how much of a need there is, because so many people have come on board. It’s been such a worthwhile experience, and we’re so glad we did it.

Tom: I totally echo that. And the most satisfying thing is that when we all pull together, the challenge is halved, and you gain momentum really quickly. We’ve been asked whether we thought this model could be applied to other regions such as the North East, or Midlands. if there are people in those regions who want to do something similar, we’d encourage them to do so and to get in touch. We think these grassroots movements are really positive.

 

The Northwest Small Practice Forum (NSPF) is a collective of like-minded architectural practices working together to positively shape the culture of the profession  – and the built environment of the region. The Forum brings small studios together to raise industry standards, support sustainable business growth, and build public awareness of the value small practices bring. By sharing knowledge, experience, and opportunity, the NSPF aims to strengthen the voice of independent architecture across the Northwest. Find out more or get involved: nspf.uk