Our approach

Unlocking potential by listening, being curious, exploring and asking the right questions

We believe in listening first and asking the right questions is the first step to unlocking the right approach to your business development strategy which will help you to find the right Clients for you and grow the right projects which align with your vision for your practice.

Developing a bespoke Business Development approach

Through a personal approach and careful consideration we work with you developing a customised business development approach.

Implement by ongoing coaching and refinement

We support you and your team with effective business development strategies and implementation. Checking in and reviewing what works and what does not to optimise your approach.

Micro-improvement projects to improve specific processes to unlock blockages

If there are blockages or areas which limit flow to your business development pipeline, we can help free these by carrying out specific improvement projects, whether this is developing a go/no go strategy, building specific bid templates, developing engaging proposals, training or doing commercial and contract negotiation to achieve mutually agreeable appointments and developing tools to help the pipeline flow.

Interactive training for you and your team to embed positive habits to create long lasting success

Bespoke training sessions for yourself or your team to develop successful business development and commercial management for winning work

Who we are

The founding director of The Bigwood Partnership is Andy Bigwood.

Andy is uniquely positioned to offer business development strategy and commercial negotiation advice from his experience working for over the last 22 years at leading architectural and design studios including Heatherwick studio and Foster + Partners. He has detailed experience developing nurturing opportunities and developing new business strategies and implementation planning, as well as commercial and contract management to successfully negotiate and secure many exciting commissions with mutually agreeable terms and conditions.

He is approachable, and has experience in building high performing teams and making successful processes improvement happen.

He is passionate about helping to create healthier societies by working collaboratively to make vibrant places where people want to live, work and play. He sees good design as a key way to unlocking sustainable and circular economy principles in the built environment and stepping closer to a zero carbon future.

From many years of competitive yacht racing he understands how to help teams realise great results by working in high pressure situations.

He has extensive experience in building great relationships and leading diverse teams to help make great projects happen, most recently he was Head of Business Development and Contracts at Heatherwick studio and previously to this worked for almost 10 years at Foster + Partners setting up and leading the commercial and contract negotiations on numerous international architectural and engineering projects.

He has developed a diverse set of skills to find, nurture and build strong relationships with many Clients and collaborators from investors, entrepreneurs, developers, engineers, makers, artists and public officials,

He has a clear understanding of the design process and the best way to structure successful design projects. He has experience of leading great teams who carry out business development, negotiate mutually agreeable Client/Consultant design contracts, joint venture agreements and sub agreements with fellow consultants to enable successful delivery of numerous international architectural and engineering projects.

In addition to Andy, the team includes Andy’s wife Alison who is a co-Director and the driving force being the business. she spent many years in banking and assessing potential risks of financial institutions and companies. She has a deep knowledge of running effective businesses and also loves photography and content creation such as websites and other marketing collateral..