Four ambition pillars for the digital growth of Prior + Partners over two years — two that sharpen what we deliver, two that transform how we operate.
Turn our internal delivery tools into products that anyone can build with. Move from bespoke, code-dependent tools to a config-driven system where non-technical staff can stand up a Place Portrait or dashboard without a developer. Package the best of these into commercial SaaS offers.
A self-hosted, offline AI that can query and retrieve from our entire project repository. Ask a question, get an answer drawn from everything we've ever produced. Nothing leaves the building, no per-token billing, built to become a daily-use tool across the practice.
A game-engine-style masterplanning tool where you build a plan from components (roads, plots, land uses) instead of drawing lines and polygons. SketchUp-simple to use, city-builder engaging, but planning-aware underneath. Our moonshot.
A digital ecosystem for running the practice on its own data: resourcing, skills, performance, and project go/no-go decisions. Built on a live staff knowledge graph, it turns how we manage people and pipeline from instinct into informed decision-making.
Foundational pillars that already have live beta tools go first and generate returns early. The moonshot — masterplanning — gets its runway once the other three are delivering and the innovation reputation is de-risked. Prove, scale, then reach.
The plan builds the capability to deliver itself
The four pillars are the targets. The Team & Capability track is how we get there. Molly joins 1 Sept for delivery capacity; the CIO appointment (Sept–Oct) creates the mandate and R&D time; the R&D Associate (candidates identified) is the strategic hire that unlocks Pillars 2 and 3; the restructure in early 2027 forms the R&D pillar once the promotion has bedded in and Molly has settled. GIS delivery and MENA/graduate hires follow — some enabling, some responsive to demand. One watch-point: delivery capacity is monitored through the restructure, when three people shift toward R&D at once.
Place+ Growth
Enable non-technical staff to build and deliver digital products without a technical bottleneck.
Consolidate the four beta tools into a single shared architecture — one template pattern, not four codebases.
Build the config-driven abstraction layer — new instances become configuration, not code.
Ship the no-code builder UI and documented component library.
Milestone — a non-technical colleague stands up a Place Portrait unaided.
Package and price SaaS versions; pursue G-Cloud listing as a public-sector route to market; roll out to clients.
The P+P Knowledge Engine
Offline, self-hosted AI to query and retrieve from the entire P+P project repository — nothing leaves the building.
Procure inference box — DGX Spark for document-heavy retrieval and headroom to scale.
£4,999Alex Davies-Moore (external) setup day — install, model tuning, user accounts, SSO.
£625 +VATMonthly retainer — monitoring, model updates, one day per month, non-cumulative.
£625 / moBuild the repository connector and semantic index over the project repository.
Develop retrieval agents — from search to answers assembled across documents.
Embed in existing workflows; roll out firmwide until it is a daily-use tool, not a separate app.
Foundation is fast and cheap
Hardware and setup land in weeks per the local inference proposal. The two-year arc is adoption and agent maturity, not the box itself. Alex remains available as a freelance infrastructure resource beyond Pillar 2.
Interactive Masterplanning Tools
A game-engine-style masterplanning tool — build a plan from components (roads, plots, land use) instead of drawing lines. SketchUp-simple, city-builder engaging.
Build a proof-of-concept: one core loop — place a road, place plots, watch land use update.
Build the rules and constraints engine — densities, adjacencies, standards — so it is planning-aware, not a toy.
Add interoperability — export to GIS, Rhino, and reporting formats planners actually need.
Polish to SketchUp-level usability and pilot on a live masterplan.
The moonshot — scoped honestly
The two-year target is a working prototype proven on one live project, not a commercial product. Deliberately sequenced last so it draws on capability and confidence built by the first three pillars.
Operational Intelligence
A digital ecosystem for resourcing, skills, performance and project go/no-go decisions — the practice running itself on its own data.
Scope and prioritise — this pillar starts with a deliberate scoping phase; nothing is assumed.
Develop the skills matrix and standardised role descriptions — the data foundation everything else needs.
Extend the team knowledge graph from scenario model to a live operational system.
Build a CRM-style layer around the knowledge graph — resourcing visibility, capability gaps, and structured go/no-go decision support.
Sequenced last of the operational pillars by design
The data does not yet exist in usable form, so the honest first step is building it. Placing this after the Knowledge Engine means the AI infrastructure is already in place to power it.
The only pillar with hard external costs today. The rest are delivered through internal capacity unlocked by the team restructure.
DGX Spark inference box. Mac Studio Ultra (£6,799) is the alternative if fast chat is prioritised over document work.
One day on-site — install, tuning, accounts. Working system by end of day.
One day per calendar month, non-cumulative. Monitoring and model updates.
Hardware, setup and 12 months of retainer. Excludes VAT on services.