Pre-bid diligence guides
Practical, document-led guides for the people on the hook for a bid. Each one walks through a report you will find in a deal's data room - what it is for, the lines that move a bid, and the red flags worth catching before you commit. Written for industrial and logistics acquisitions.
Reading the documents in the data room
How to read a planning permission and its conditions
The decision notice, the conditions that carry cost, whether the consent has lapsed, prior approval routes and appeals: what a planning file really commits a site to.
Read the guide → Title & legalHow to read a title register
Extent and tenure, restrictive covenants that bind you as a successor, easements across the developable area, and the rights that never reach the register.
Read the guide → Flood riskHow to read a flood risk assessment (FRA)
Flood zones, climate-change allowances and the mitigations that decide whether a site is developable - and at what cost.
Read the guide → EnvironmentalPhase 1 vs Phase 2: reading contamination reports
Desk study or intrusive investigation: what each tells you about ground contamination, and the risk left unquantified before you bid.
Read the guide → EcologyHow to read a Phase 1 ecological appraisal (PEA)
Protected species, designations and seasonal survey windows - the ecology findings that quietly add months to a programme.
Read the guide → Biodiversity net gainBiodiversity net gain (BNG): reading the metric
How the statutory metric works, on-site versus off-site units, and what mandatory 10% net gain really costs a scheme.
Read the guide → GeotechnicalHow to read a ground investigation report
Bearing capacity, settlement risk and made ground: the geotechnical findings that turn into cost and programme risk if you miss them before a bid.
Read the guide → Measured surveyHow to read a measured building survey
Floor plates, eaves heights and gross internal area: how to use the survey data in a data room to verify the commercial assumptions behind a bid.
Read the guide → Transport & highwaysHow to read a transport assessment
Trip generation, access and servicing, section 278 highways works and travel plans: the transport commitments that decide what you can actually build.
Read the guide →AI & pre-bid diligence
More guides are in progress - utilities and drainage. Tell us which document is slowing your bids down and we will prioritise it.