How we work

The Estates Strategy Partnership works through a structured four-stage model. This page describes what each stage involves, what it delivers, and how engagements are structured and priced. The model is designed for organisations at the beginning of a long relationship with the framework, not for those seeking a single assessment or a one-off piece of work.

Stage 1 carries no charge. Stages 2, 3, and 4 are paid engagements, scoped and priced following the initial consultation.

Stage 1: Free Initial Consultation (approximately 1 hour)

No charge

The initial consultation is a structured professional engagement, not a sales call. Approximately one hour in duration, it is a disciplined conversation that examines the organisation's position across all five connected domains of estate management: where the organisation is, what the DfE Estate Management Standards require, and where the priority gaps lie.

The consultation is not a scoping exercise for a predetermined service. It surfaces the organisation's actual situation. The partner or partners best placed to support the work are identified from that conversation, not before it. Visitors do not need to identify their primary domain of need before booking. The consultation exists precisely to make that determination.

It concludes with a clear statement: where the organisation currently sits, what the Standards require at that maturity level, and what the priority gaps are. That statement is followed by a proposal for a paid Stage 2 assessment, so the organisation can decide how it wishes to proceed with full clarity about what has been found.

There is no charge for the initial consultation.

Stage 2: Paid Assessment and Gap Analysis

Paid: rate TBC

The Stage 2 assessment is a structured, paid engagement. It maps the organisation's position against the DfE Estate Management Standards maturity levels across each relevant domain, producing prioritised recommendations that reflect the specific gaps identified at Stage 1.

The assessment is delivered by the ESP partner or partners whose domain expertise is most relevant to the organisation's situation. Engagements are scoped and delivered by the practitioner best placed for the work. There is no central delivery function: the assessment reflects the specific knowledge of the partner conducting it.

Rates for Stage 2 are confirmed at proposal stage following the initial consultation. No commercial terms are published on this site ahead of that conversation.

Stage 3: Improvement Plan Development

Paid: rate TBC

Stage 3 produces a documented improvement plan. The plan specifies what needs to change, in what order, owned by whom, and over what timescale. It is not a report that concludes the engagement. It is the point at which the long-term partnership begins in practice.

The plan is designed to be actionable by the organisation's own people, with the partnership providing the advisory structure, sequencing logic, and ongoing accountability that a responsible body needs to move through the maturity levels with confidence.

Rates for Stage 3 are confirmed at proposal stage. No commercial terms are published on this site.

Stage 4: Ongoing Services

Paid: rates TBC per service and domain

Stage 4 describes the continuing partnership. Services include consultancy, training, governance support, people development, and assurance processes. Where the organisation's situation makes it appropriate, EstatesBase implementation is part of the offer (Domain 3). Services are structured per domain as the partnership evolves and as the organisation's capability develops.

The DfE Estate Management Standards describe a ten-year improvement journey. Most Responsible Bodies begin at Level 1 or Level 2. ESP is designed for that reality. The partnership is structured for the long term, not the immediate return or the immediate assessment. Stage 4 is where most of that work happens.

Rates for ongoing services are confirmed per service and per domain at the relevant proposal stage.

The long-term partnership

The four stages above are the beginning of something, not a sequence that ends. The DfE Estate Management Standards describe a ten-year improvement journey. Most Responsible Bodies begin at Level 1 or Level 2. The governance architecture, the operating model, the people capability, and the assurance processes required to move through those levels take years to build and to sustain. ESP is designed for that reality: a long-term partnership, not a one-off assessment. Each stage creates the conditions for what follows. Each engagement deepens the partnership's understanding of where the organisation is and what it needs next.

Book a Conversation: an open, exploratory discussion about where your organisation is and what the framework requires.