Rider Levett Bucknall
Who we are
From seeking to deliver safe, warm and dry learning environments, to evolving ageing estates to meet net zero milestones, the overriding emphasis for many schools and academy trusts is to find imaginative ways to do more with less – which iswhy many turn to Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB).
Located across 14 UK offices, our 1,200+-strong, multi award-winning professional team provides schools and academy trusts with forward-thinking advice in built asset consultancy, cost management, project management, digital transformation, health and safety and sustainability. Our national team – which includes building surveyors, architectural and MEP designers, fire consultants and decarbonisation experts – has the expertise to develop, improve and enhance learning estate in line with Good Estate Management for Schools (GEMS).
Equipped with decades of experience at the forefront of shaping and delivering education estates, we actively support our sector clients to improve education outcomes for pupils and students, and create sustainable, flexible and efficient learning environments. We are proud to be employee-owned - and this independence ensures we are 100% client-focused without any conflict of interest. Our passion is to develop long-standing relationships, so we can share our knowledge and understanding of estates, no matter how large or small the school trust.
As one of the DfE’s partners delivering the CDC programme, we have witness firsthand the condition of our schools, which makes us more determined to be a catalyst for change. Through our people-centric values and holistic solutions-based approach, we will work closely with you to understand your challenges and priorities, and help you to create high performing and sustainable buildings which meet today’s challenges - and those of tomorrow.
What we do
Why choose RLB?
Many schools and academy trusts find it challenging to upgrade and maintain ageing estates amidst constrained funding sources and ambitious decarbonisation expectations. Whilst every school shares the same aspiration to create safe, inspiring and inclusive learning environments, every school environment presents a unique set of circumstances.
Through our 'Connected Thinking' approach, we combine collaborative best practice and flawless execution with local knowledge and sector expertise. We take learnings from our business services and overlay them with an in-depth understanding of clients’ needs and sector intelligence, to create tailored solutions that deliver successful outcomes.
Working across the construction lifecycle, our solutions support every stage. From estate optimisation strategies to funding application support to decarbonisation delivery, our range of solutions can be tailored to specific priorities and challenges. Our goal is to help every school and academy client to create inspiring learning environments for pupils, staff and wider communities.
In sharing our extensive knowledge of statutory requirements, good estate management guidance and risk mitigation within the built environment, we enable Head Teachers, Business Managers, and Governors, to ensure estate strategies and plans align with academic priorities.
How we can help school trusts:
Set priorities
- Master planning and estates strategy
- Funding monitoring, assessment and bid preparation
- Pre-acquisition and due diligence assessments
- Feasibility for site expansion and repurposing
Manage assets and estates
- Single and multi-site strategic asset management
- Digital design and BIM modelling
- Measured surveys
- Net Capacity Pupil Area guidance
- Building condition surveys for maintenance planning and investment
- Mechanical, electrical, and public health design services
Deliver projects
- Construction procurement
- Scheme and capital works project management
- Employers’ agent services
- Clerk of Works services
- Quality monitoring and defect management
Meet requirements
- Building Safety Act compliance
- CDM services / Principal Designer
- Fire safety design and remediation management
- Fire risk management, inspection, and assurance
Reach Net Zero
- Green building accreditations
- Energy and carbon management
- Sustainability planning and strategy
How we help
RLB is deeply committed to creating a better future for education. We work at every level, from Government policy through to individual project delivery. We apply our sector experience, knowledge and expertise through a range of solutions that can help your trust to cut through the complexities of shaping and delivering inspiring learning environments:
Funding is essential to deliver estate efficiencies and improvements, but the threshold for successful applications is more rigorous than ever. We’ve developed a turkey solution to shape, write and implement applications for grant support to prime school trusts for success.
Our ‘no-win, no-fee’ bid submission service, combined with our high success rate, has already secured our sector clients over £200m of capital funding for long-awaited roof renewals, heating system upgrades, electrical rewires, fire alarm replacements, fire safety upgrades, kitchen refurbishments, safeguarding and asbestos removal works.
- Make data-driven decisions
Many trusts can find it challenging to prioritise estate projects. By capturing asset data, and understanding the analytical insights, we can bring clarity to the management of planned maintenance, asset life cycles, energy usage, technical due diligence and statutory compliance to optimise expenditure and estate performance.
Drawing our extensive delivery work for the DfE’s CDC programme, we have developed reporting solutions that use standard digital platforms to provide rich data about the condition and efficiency of your school estate. This data can be reviewed and understood by a wide range of stakeholders to enable better intelligent and informed decision making.
As net zero milestones move closer, schools and trusts need to put plans into action. Our team of RICS chartered surveyors includes PAS2035 compliant retrofit specialists, who can provide decarbonisation solutions at portfolio scale (fabric upgrades, LED lighting, ASHP installations, Photo Voltaic panels etc).
We also excel in helping schools and trusts secure grants allocations through the Low Carbon Skills Fund (LCSF) and the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) so they can invest in clean energy sources, such as heat pumps, and equip their estates management team with green skills to steer your trust along its sustainability journey.
