Fresh Projects is a UK-based software platform designed for architects, engineers, and other built-environment professionals to manage financial aspects of their projects. It helps teams track fees, timesheets, expenses, billing, and overall profitability to keep projects on budget and profitable. The platform also centralises project data, streamlines administrative tasks, and offers mobile app support for easy access and updates.
1a Colinette Road
London
SW15 6QG
© 2026 Fresh Projects
Product
Fresh Projects is a UK-based software platform designed for architects, engineers, and other built-environment professionals to manage financial aspects of their projects. It helps teams track fees, timesheets, expenses, billing, and overall profitability to keep projects on budget and profitable. The platform also centralises project data, streamlines administrative tasks, and offers mobile app support for easy access and updates.
1a Colinette Road
London
SW15 6QG
© 2026 Fresh Projects
Product
Breaking Barriers in AEC: Meet the Women Driving Fresh Projects
Breaking Barriers in AEC: Meet the Women Driving Fresh Projects
Breaking Barriers in AEC: Meet the Women Driving Fresh Projects
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A sector still playing catch-up
Despite progress, women remain underrepresented across Architecture, Engineering and Construction. Change is happening, but it remains uneven.
Looking at the UK:
Around fifteen percent of the construction workforce is female
In engineering, women account for just over sixteen percent of roles, an improvement on a decade ago but still low
Architecture shows stronger representation, with roughly a third of registered architects being women. In larger AJ100 practices, this figure is closer to forty percent, suggesting that bigger firms are beginning to move faster than the profession as a whole
📊 AJ100 Gender Data: Architects by Gender (recent years)
As reported in the most recent AJ100 coverage:
“Women now account for 38 percent of all architects employed in the cohort, representing a year-on-year increase in both absolute numbers and proportion of the workforce.”
Globally, the picture is similar:
In Canada, women make up a small proportion of the construction workforce and a limited share of licensed engineers
In Australia, representation across construction and engineering remains in the mid-teens
In South Africa, the proportion of women in construction and engineering roles remains close to ten percent
Even in architecture, often seen as the most gender-diverse of the three disciplines, there is a steep drop-off between education and long-term practice. While women make up close to half of architecture students in many countries, only around thirty to forty percent remain registered or practising over time.
A joint report by RIBA and the Fawcett Society highlighted a key contributor:
“A significant proportion of professional women leave their organisation within a year of returning from maternity leave.”
Progress is not only about recruitment. It is about retention, opportunity and visibility.
Celebrating recent trailblazers
Recent AJ100 Awards coverage has highlighted women-led excellence across the profession, signalling a broader shift in how leadership is recognised.
Employer of the Year: Collective Architecture
A leadership team with a strong female majority
A board with significant female representation
Enhanced maternity policies available from day one
As noted in AJ100 reporting, generous and clearly defined benefits are becoming a marker of progressive practice culture.
“Staff are entitled to generous employee benefits from day one, including six months’ maternity leave at 90 percent pay followed by six months at standard maternity pay.” - Pamela Buxton, AJ100 Magazine
New Talent recognition
The most recent awards also spotlighted emerging leaders whose work extends beyond individual projects into shaping practice culture, processes and values. These stories point to a profession beginning to value leadership, inclusion and long-term thinking alongside design quality.
New Talent – Part 1: Jemma Ho
“Her entrepreneurial spirit and pursuit of tackling what is a shortcoming in the built environment is something we see huge potential in… She has the capacity to push the profession forward.” - Emily Booth, AJ100 Magazine
New Talent – Part 2: Elizabeth Akamo
“She has strong values which she’s translating into practice processes and encouraging the next generation of practitioners to follow her example… a serious thought leader admired for her open-mindedness, holistic and creative approach, and her determination to include everyone.” - Will Hurst, AJ100 Magazine
These are not isolated successes. They reflect a broader mindset shift across the sector.
Inside Fresh Projects
At Fresh Projects, we believe operational tools are not just about profitability. They are about enabling better practice.
Behind the platform is a team of women shaping how architecture and engineering firms work day to day.
Aimee Smith, Head of Customer Success
Supporting firms as they navigate complex project and financial workflows, helping teams gain clarity and confidence.
“Everyone benefits when we work in diverse industries and teams. Different mindsets, different skill sets, when we bring them together, the results are always better. It’s not about ticking boxes, it’s about building better outcomes through broader perspectives.”
Shona Troost, Project Manager
Leading thoughtful implementations across practices with very different structures and needs.
“A&E firms solve varied and complex challenges. Women contribute significantly to the diversity of thought leadership, experience, and approach required to design and implement these solutions sustainably and ethically.”
Danielle Wilson, Content and Social Media Manager
Amplifying practitioner voices and challenging outdated stereotypes across the industry.
“If you ask someone to describe an architect or an engineer, they’ll likely picture a man. That’s the cultural default we’re challenging. Women have always had the skillsets, the shift now is that those skills are finally being seen, respected, and valued in the professions they’ve long contributed to.”
Caitlyn Thompson, Customer Success Manager
“I believe women bring fresh thinking that leads to smarter, more inclusive design. If the built environment is for everyone, the people shaping it should reflect that. Diversity in the industry isn’t a nice-to-have - it’s what drives progress.”
Together, these roles influence how firms onboard, implement systems, manage teams and make decisions that affect both people and performance.
What AEC firms can do next
Representation does not improve by accident. It improves through intent, structure and visibility.
One practical starting point is internal data.
Ask different questions of the information you already have:
How are projects allocated across teams and roles?
Who carries the most non-billable administrative work?
Who is consistently assigned to the highest-value projects?
How transparent are progression and mentoring pathways?
Many firms are not lacking commitment. They are lacking visibility.
Building a better future for AEC
Recent industry recognition reminds us what progress looks like:
Women in leadership
Thoughtful policies that support long-term careers
New voices shaping how practices operate
At Fresh Projects, we are proud to support firms working towards a more inclusive industry and to be shaped by the women in our own team who are helping lead that change.
Diversity is not an add-on. It is central to building better practices and a better built environment.
A sector still playing catch-up
Despite progress, women remain underrepresented across Architecture, Engineering and Construction. Change is happening, but it remains uneven.
Looking at the UK:
Around fifteen percent of the construction workforce is female
In engineering, women account for just over sixteen percent of roles, an improvement on a decade ago but still low
Architecture shows stronger representation, with roughly a third of registered architects being women. In larger AJ100 practices, this figure is closer to forty percent, suggesting that bigger firms are beginning to move faster than the profession as a whole
📊 AJ100 Gender Data: Architects by Gender (recent years)
As reported in the most recent AJ100 coverage:
“Women now account for 38 percent of all architects employed in the cohort, representing a year-on-year increase in both absolute numbers and proportion of the workforce.”
Globally, the picture is similar:
In Canada, women make up a small proportion of the construction workforce and a limited share of licensed engineers
In Australia, representation across construction and engineering remains in the mid-teens
In South Africa, the proportion of women in construction and engineering roles remains close to ten percent
Even in architecture, often seen as the most gender-diverse of the three disciplines, there is a steep drop-off between education and long-term practice. While women make up close to half of architecture students in many countries, only around thirty to forty percent remain registered or practising over time.
A joint report by RIBA and the Fawcett Society highlighted a key contributor:
“A significant proportion of professional women leave their organisation within a year of returning from maternity leave.”
Progress is not only about recruitment. It is about retention, opportunity and visibility.
Celebrating recent trailblazers
Recent AJ100 Awards coverage has highlighted women-led excellence across the profession, signalling a broader shift in how leadership is recognised.
Employer of the Year: Collective Architecture
A leadership team with a strong female majority
A board with significant female representation
Enhanced maternity policies available from day one
As noted in AJ100 reporting, generous and clearly defined benefits are becoming a marker of progressive practice culture.
“Staff are entitled to generous employee benefits from day one, including six months’ maternity leave at 90 percent pay followed by six months at standard maternity pay.” - Pamela Buxton, AJ100 Magazine
New Talent recognition
The most recent awards also spotlighted emerging leaders whose work extends beyond individual projects into shaping practice culture, processes and values. These stories point to a profession beginning to value leadership, inclusion and long-term thinking alongside design quality.
New Talent – Part 1: Jemma Ho
“Her entrepreneurial spirit and pursuit of tackling what is a shortcoming in the built environment is something we see huge potential in… She has the capacity to push the profession forward.” - Emily Booth, AJ100 Magazine
New Talent – Part 2: Elizabeth Akamo
“She has strong values which she’s translating into practice processes and encouraging the next generation of practitioners to follow her example… a serious thought leader admired for her open-mindedness, holistic and creative approach, and her determination to include everyone.” - Will Hurst, AJ100 Magazine
These are not isolated successes. They reflect a broader mindset shift across the sector.
Inside Fresh Projects
At Fresh Projects, we believe operational tools are not just about profitability. They are about enabling better practice.
Behind the platform is a team of women shaping how architecture and engineering firms work day to day.
Aimee Smith, Head of Customer Success
Supporting firms as they navigate complex project and financial workflows, helping teams gain clarity and confidence.
“Everyone benefits when we work in diverse industries and teams. Different mindsets, different skill sets, when we bring them together, the results are always better. It’s not about ticking boxes, it’s about building better outcomes through broader perspectives.”
Shona Troost, Project Manager
Leading thoughtful implementations across practices with very different structures and needs.
“A&E firms solve varied and complex challenges. Women contribute significantly to the diversity of thought leadership, experience, and approach required to design and implement these solutions sustainably and ethically.”
Danielle Wilson, Content and Social Media Manager
Amplifying practitioner voices and challenging outdated stereotypes across the industry.
“If you ask someone to describe an architect or an engineer, they’ll likely picture a man. That’s the cultural default we’re challenging. Women have always had the skillsets, the shift now is that those skills are finally being seen, respected, and valued in the professions they’ve long contributed to.”
Caitlyn Thompson, Customer Success Manager
“I believe women bring fresh thinking that leads to smarter, more inclusive design. If the built environment is for everyone, the people shaping it should reflect that. Diversity in the industry isn’t a nice-to-have - it’s what drives progress.”
Together, these roles influence how firms onboard, implement systems, manage teams and make decisions that affect both people and performance.
What AEC firms can do next
Representation does not improve by accident. It improves through intent, structure and visibility.
One practical starting point is internal data.
Ask different questions of the information you already have:
How are projects allocated across teams and roles?
Who carries the most non-billable administrative work?
Who is consistently assigned to the highest-value projects?
How transparent are progression and mentoring pathways?
Many firms are not lacking commitment. They are lacking visibility.
Building a better future for AEC
Recent industry recognition reminds us what progress looks like:
Women in leadership
Thoughtful policies that support long-term careers
New voices shaping how practices operate
At Fresh Projects, we are proud to support firms working towards a more inclusive industry and to be shaped by the women in our own team who are helping lead that change.
Diversity is not an add-on. It is central to building better practices and a better built environment.
Published:
Published:
Why Reporting Still Leaves Architecture and Engineering Firms Guessing
Why Reporting Still Leaves Architecture and Engineering Firms Guessing
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Inside many built environment firms, meetings meant for decisions quietly turn into debates about the numbers on the page.
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In many built environment consultancies, reporting technically works. The challenge is that clarity often arrives after the moment when it would have influenced action.
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Even with reporting systems in place, many architecture, engineering and quantity surveying firms find that insight arrives too late to influence decisions during delivery.
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How to Compare Practice Management Tools for Architect and Engineering Firms in 2026
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Choosing a practice management system is no longer about feature lists. This guide explains how architecture and engineering firms should compare tools in 2026, focusing on adoption, usability and decision-making rather than complexity.
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Autumn Budget 2025: What It Means for Architecture and Engineering Firms
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Implications for resourcing, margins and medium-term planning
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How Larger Architecture and Engineering Firms Stay Profitable in a Slower Construction Market
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What 50–100 person practices are tightening up when pipelines soften
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Why Traditional Reporting is Holding A&E Firms Back
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Spreadsheets in A&E Firms: Usage, Key Features, and Underappreciated Gems
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Why representation, visibility and better systems matter for the future of architecture and engineering
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How architecture and engineering practices protect margin as teams and project complexity increase
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The Profitability Pyramid: Where UK Architecture Firms Make and Lose Money
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Understanding the real drivers of financial performance for medium and large practices over the past year
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3 Lessons to Help You Run a More Profitable Practice
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Practical insights from A&E leaders on spotting profit risks early, communicating value, and protecting margins
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Embracing Neurodiversity in Architecture
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How inclusive practice design can unlock creativity, innovation and operational clarity
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Profitable Projects: Winning the Right Projects in AEC
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How to qualify leads, focus your pipeline and forecast success more confidently
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Profitable Projects: The Art of Cashflow Alchemy in AEC
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How architecture and engineering firms can turn unpredictable cash flow into a strategic advantage
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Fresh Projects is a UK-based software platform designed for architects, engineers, and other built-environment professionals to manage financial aspects of their projects. It helps teams track fees, timesheets, expenses, billing, and overall profitability to keep projects on budget and profitable. The platform also centralises project data, streamlines administrative tasks, and offers mobile app support for easy access and updates.
1a Colinette Road
London
SW15 6QG
© 2026 Fresh Projects
Product
