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Built Environment

Change in the built environment isn’t new, but it is accelerating. Decarbonization is reshaping how assets are designed, delivered, and managed, while regulation is tightening faster than many businesses can adapt. Digital tools are redefining workflows, and skilled labor remains in short supply. In this environment, success depends on making smart decisions quickly. CIL helps clients cut through the noise, understand where real risks and opportunities lie, and move forward with clarity.

We help our clients

Decarbonization is reshaping the built environment. We help businesses understand where lower-carbon approaches create strategic advantage, assessing how sustainability trends will shape customer expectations, product demand and competitive positioning.
Building safety and compliance regulations are tightening across markets. We help clients anticipate change, evaluate commercial risks, and build growth strategies that align with future compliance requirements.
Skills shortages are constraining growth across the built environment. We help businesses evaluate delivery models, assess investment in people, and build business models that reduce exposure to labor market pressures.
Technology is transforming how projects are delivered. We help clients assess where digital tools can drive commercial advantage, appraise where to focus and shape strategies that unlock value.
Building products and the routes to market are evolving. We help clients define the right product proposition, develop go-to-market propositions, and optimize channel and distribution models for long-term growth.

Case Studies

Expertise in action

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Data and analytics roadmap

What happens when a business turns scattered data into a plan for exit value?

A hazardous materials services business preparing for exit struggled with fragmented reporting and reliance on day-to-day operational data, making it hard to present a compelling case to investors. CIL ran a diagnostic across key use cases and datasets and set out a roadmap for growth with clear high-value use cases, dependencies, and priorities. Leadership quickly acted on the recommendations, migrating to a cloud data store and restructuring roles – a transformation forecast to add $4-9.5m in exit value.

Restoring pricing control

How did a distributor improve margins by changing local pricing behavior?

A multi-site distributor needed to change local pricing behaviors and stop price leakage. CIL replaced existing business intelligence tools with a tailored Tableau dashboard that gave Branch and Product Managers clear visibility into how pricing effected gross profit. This transparency improved margins by 11% in the eight weeks post-implementation compared to the same period the previous year.

Customer segmentation and GTM

How did a merged group clarify customer needs across a diverse customer base?

Following the merger of two leading service providers into the built environment, the combined group faced a fragmented customer landscape with varied requirements by size, sector and service type. CIL mapped the full customer base and identified distinct needs and buying behaviours, creating a clear segmentation framework to inform a coherent go-to-market strategy. This insight shaped the design of the operating model, enabling the group to structure sales, account management and brand positioning around customer needs.

Sales funnel analytics

How did better visibility into lead quality help a residential solar provider optimize its sales funnel?

A residential solar provider lacked a clear view of lead quality, limiting its ability to prioritize sales efforts and manage acquisition spend. CIL unified fragmented data into a single platform and developed a real-time dashboard tracking over 90 KPI-driven metrics. The result was sharper control of the sales funnel, lower spend with underperforming lead providers and improved conversion, delivering an immediate EBITDA uplift of approximately 2%.

Commercial due diligence

What enabled investors to take a clear decision amid mixed market signals?

Two investors were assessing a safety equipment provider under tight timelines and uncertain macro conditions. They needed a clear, executable view of the market outlook to support an investment decision. CIL delivered focused diligence, drawing on deep sector networks to assess demand resilience, competitive dynamics and the range of outcomes under different tariff scenarios. This provided the clarity required to move decisively, supporting a successful co-investment that valued the business at approximately £1.3 billion.

Sub-sector expertise

We work across the built environment, helping clients succeed in complex, fast-changing markets. Our experience spans the full sector – from the products that go into buildings, to the services that deliver and maintain them.

Ready to get started?

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Compliance & facilities management

From field-based operations to soft and hard FM, we support businesses delivering critical services into existing buildings. Our work spans both blue- and white-collar services. We help clients adapt to regulation, navigate technological shifts and sharpen pricing.

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Engineering & consulting

Whether RIBA stage 1 or stage 6, we support AEC service providers across the build phase, including specialist subcontracting. We help optimize business models, attract and retain talent, and respond to the commercial challenges and opportunities presented by AI.

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Real estate & construction services

We work with businesses across the real estate lifecycle – from modular and offsite construction to site operations and construction software. We help clients modernize delivery models, adopt new technologies and scale with confidence.

ConTech

We help ConTech businesses develop propositions, scale effectively and stand out in a fast-moving market. For investors, we assess growth potential, commercial traction and defensibility and highlight areas where change is happening fastest.

Building products & distribution

From home improvements to construction materials, we support businesses delivering the products that shape the built environment. We help clients refine propositions, strengthen go-to-market approaches, and unlock growth in a fragmented landscape.

Our differentiator

We have deep, dedicated experience in the built environment. This has been a long-term focus for us – we’ve worked alongside businesses in this sector for years, well before decarbonization, compliance, and digitalization became the dominant trends in the industry. Clients tell us they value our honest perspective, our sector heritage, and the way we genuinely care about getting to the right answer. We’re thoughtful, practical, and collaborative - trusted by our clients to help them go further, faster.