Steve Frankham MBE retires after 44 years

Steve Frankham MBE retires after 44 years at the helm of Frankham Group, leaving the business well-positioned for future growth with support from LDC

As Frankham’s founder and chairman, Steve Frankham MBE, is retiring after leading the business for 44 years. Steve started the company single handedly from the back bedroom of his home, driven by his ambition and determination. From those humble beginnings, he has led Frankham Group (Frankham), to become one of the UK’s leading multidisciplinary consultancies for the built environment. Today, employing c.250 people, it delivers a broad range of end-to-end services, spanning surveying, compliance, engineering, and design. It has over 700 private and public sector clients including Network Rail, Local Authorities, Housing Associations and many private companies and works on projects across the housing, infrastructure, commercial and other sectors.

Steve’s drive, passion, and entrepreneurial spirit have shaped the Frankham Group into the strong, diverse, and well-respected business it is today; Steve will leave a strong legacy.

Frankham has doubled its turnover over the past five years, underpinned by growing demand for compliance-led services driven by regulatory and legislative change. Historically focused on London and the South East, it has recently expanded to other parts of the country and in April 2025, opened an office in Birmingham – its fifth site, alongside Sidcup, London, Stevenage and Oxford.

The existing management team led by Richard Chitty will continue to take the business forward with the support of investment from LDC, part of Lloyds Banking Group, as they pursue an organic and acquisitive growth strategy. Richard has been with the business for 32 years – starting as a surveyor and has served as Group Managing Director and a shareholder since 2008.

LDC’s investment will help Frankham accelerate its 2030 growth strategy, targeting further geographic expansion. The investment was led by Investment Manager Tom Jervis, Investment Executive Eliza Morton, supported by Managing Partner and Head of London Nicol Fraser.

Richard Chitty, Chief Executive Officer at Frankham Group, said:
“On behalf of all of us at Frankham, I’d like to thank Steve for the opportunities he has given me personally and for everyone at Frankham. Also thank him for his vision, leadership and drive over the past 40 years. We wish him a long and happy retirement.”

“We are very proud to have built a great business, with talented employees and loyal clients. We and LDC are aligned in our thinking for the Group and they clearly understand and respect our culture and will be a great partner for us as we build on the strong position we’ve created, benefitting from their sector experience and regional network to expand nationally and into other market segments.”

Steve Frankham MBE, Founder & Chairman of Frankham Group, added:
“Stepping away after 44 years has been a huge decision for me. I am proud to have created a very strong business with great people, a very bright future with the strongest order book we have ever had and so much more potential. I leave with complete confidence, knowing the company is in very capable hands with Richard at the helm, supported by a fantastic leadership team and that our carefully chosen investors, LDC, are the perfect fit for Frankham.”

Tom Jervis, Investment Manager at LDC, added:
“Frankham’s consistent growth reflects the strength of its service and delivery quality, the ambition of its team and the trust its clients place in it as a partner. It has an excellent reputation, a strong culture, and its broad range of services means it’s well-positioned to meet rising demand for construction consultancy services as clients seek help in delivering new projects and meeting increasing regulation. We’re looking forward to working with Richard and his team to help them achieve their ambitious growth plans.”

LDC has a track record of supporting a wide range of businesses serving the built environment, including environmental TIC specialist HSL, fire door sector TIC and compliance business IDSL, water and environmental sustainability specialist Stonbury, cost benchmarking and valuation platform BCIS, and passive fire protection manufacturer ARC Building Solutions.

LDC was advised by PwC (Corporate Finance), Gateley Plc (Legal), Tatsu (Debt), RSM (Financial and Tax), Fairgrove (Commercial), Mactavish (Insurance), Coppett Hill (Sales), A&M (IT), FSP (Cyber) and Confidas (Management).

Frankham was advised by Clearwater, Freeths and Parisi.