Inkling was officially incorporated on 26th August 2011. To mark 15 years in business we decided to celebrate the 15 things we are most proud of from our first 15 years.
A massive thank you to every client, collaborator, and friend who has supported us or cheered us on over this time, we truly wouldn’t be here without you. Here’s to the next 15!
1. Staying true to our values
We have remained intentionally small and independent, choosing clients and projects that align with our mission to make buildings more comfortable and energy efficient. We support initiatives that matter to us and have proven that commercial success and ethical integrity can go hand in hand. We are especially proud of this one.
2. Creating a genuinely different workplace
We have built a consultancy founded on trust and respect, where we all work a four-day week from wherever we like, have flexibility to adapt to our personal circumstances, have no annual leave limits or timesheets and receive equal salaries.
3. Keeping it fun
We still get a kick out of what we do: winning new work, learning new things, resolving tricky problems, and we genuinely look forward to the team meeting each week.
4. A sustainable business
We have been financially stable for 15 years, paying salaries every month and healthy bonuses (almost) every year.
5. Client and industry collaboration
We have completed more than 400 commercial projects for a diverse range of clients, with high levels of repeat business. We have also worked alongside architects, engineers, academics, contractors and other organisations to achieve outcomes that no single organisation could deliver alone.
6. Industry leaders on overheating risk
We have helped drive and define how overheating is predicted for UK housing through authorship of TM59 (2017), leading the TM59 (2026) update, influencing Approved Document O, producing technical guidance, developing free Good Homes Alliance tools, and providing practical interpretation for everyone across the sector.
7. Championing operational performance
We have consistently looked to push the industry beyond compliance towards understanding how buildings actually perform in use through TM54, LETI, NABERS UK, UKNZCBS and ongoing research into measured performance.
8. Supporting NABERS UK
We have been involved with NABERS since its introduction in the UK and conducted over 25 NABERS UK Independent Design Reviews, promoting better operational energy outcomes across the office sector.
9. Influencing guidance and research
We have contributed to major publications including CIBSE TM54, TM59, the LETI Operational Energy Modelling Guide and award-winning research with the likes of Loughborough University, helping shape professional practice beyond individual projects.
10. Volunteering to improve the profession
We have contributed massive amounts of unpaid professional time via CIBSE committees, scientific panels, award judging, LETI working groups, review panels, consultation responses and guidance writing – far beyond what would normally be expected of a small consultancy.
11. We are still learning
We have attended the CIBSE Technical Symposium every year, are regulars at Build2Perform and Futurebuild, plus many other conferences and webinars. We particularly enjoy following industry developments, and new technologies.
12. Sharing our knowledge
We have published hundreds of blogs, contributed to free publications, spoken at conferences and on webinars. We always seek to make complex building performance topics accessible to the wider profession rather than keeping our expertise behind a paywall.
13. Making modelling smarter
We have developed in-house automation tools and workflows that dramatically reduce repetitive modelling tasks, which has allowed more time to focus on the interesting bit – finding solutions! We have written our own AI use policy to keep us conscious of and accountable for how we use it.
14. Questioning accepted practice
We have built a reputation for thoughtful, evidence-based discussion through blogs and research on emerging issues such as weather files, representing infiltration, and modelling accuracy.
15. Award winning
We were named Consultancy of the Year (under 50 employees) at the 2024 CIBSE Building Performance Awards. The judges described Inkling as “punching well above its weight” – recognising both our technical quality and wider impact.
While life is about quality as well as quantity, we thrive on numbers – we are engineers after all – so here are some key stats:
🎂 15 years
🎂 400+ project
🎂 100+ blog articles
🎂 Dozens of industry committees and guidance documents
🎂 Over 25 NABERS IDRs
🎂 Two research papers published, and more in the offing
🎂 One deliberately different consultancy
The lovely infographic illustrating our list was produced by Joanne Wilderspin.
