FCBS blames rising costs and market uncertainty as profit halves and turnover drops 20%

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios has blamed rising costs and market uncertainty after reporting a 20% drop in turnover in its latest accounts.

The firm’s profit for the year to 31 March 2026 almost halved from £2.4m the year before to £1.3m while its turnover fell from £13.2m to £10.6m.

The average number of staff at the practice also fell from 110 in 2025 to 92 in 2026 with the LLP’s number of members falling from 26 to 23.

Its income from both of the firm’s market regions dropped, from £11.2m to £8.9m in the UK and from £2m to £1.8m in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

In its overview of the year, the practice said it had experienced a “continuation of the uncertainty that was evident in the markets at the start of the previous financial year with rising costs and inflation both impacting the architectural sector”.

It said its members were “fully aware” of the impact which these factors had had on its margins and was implementing risk mitigation measures including amending its budgets “in line with anticipated turnover”.

However, it said that members considered the results to be an “acceptable outcome considering the reduction in turnover, continued market uncertainty and the reductions in our costs ongoing that we actioned earlier in the year”.

It added: “Whilst we appreciate that we may still be in for some very tough economic challenges over the next year, we also recognise that as architects we carry the skills and resilience that the world needs for the next 10 years, particularly around the social and climate issues we are facing”.

New projects which the practice was awarded during the year included the Eastgate development in Leeds, work at some Cambridge colleges and several new housing projects.

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios has been approached for comment.