Architecture in the Den with Ben Derbyshire: Business Resilience

Lisa and Ben talk about resilience and why this quality is so important to build into your practice. During the best of economic times startups have a high failure rate, often tripped up by undervaluing your work or badly structured fee proposals. The truth is that these also are valuable lessons, and working through to find solutions helps to build entrepreneurship. Looking back on the last ten or so years of business, learn how Lisa and Ben built resilient architectural practices.

Pride Road Franchise is an innovative architecture practice for UK-registered architects. It’s a smart business model that exploits the potential of the domestic mass market and was founded out of necessity after Lisa was made redundant as her family grew. The ultimate in flexible working, Pride Road successfully pivoted online during the spring lockdown and continues to develop pipelines of work across the franchise at a time of great change in the profession as a whole.

https://www.prideroadfranchise.co.uk

In 2016, Founder Lisa Raynes turned her successful sole practice into a franchise that other ambitious architects wanting work/life balance can buy into. She’s had a seat on the RIBA Council (2015-18), been Chair of Women in Property NW and founded Manchester Curious, an urban architecture outreach festival.

Ben Derbyshire is Chair of HTA Design LLP. HTA Design LLP is a design consultancy to the home-building industry specialising in Creative Collaboration between its multidisciplinary team, clients, communities and other professionals. Ben has built up broad-ranging expertise through involvement in much of HTA's work in regeneration, masterplanning, housing and mixed use design across all sectors. He is Immediate Past President of RIBA. He was elected onto Council in 2014, becoming President Elect in August 2016 and serving as President from September 2017 to August 2019.