Commercial Fit Out & Refurbishment Project Management in Hampshire

Written by Derek Johnson FRICS, Founder & Director. Last reviewed [October 2026].

We can run the whole project or pick up a single stage.

• Lead consultant — we take the project from brief to completion: design, specification, tender, contract administration and coordinating M&E engineers and other consultants.
• Design and specification — drawings and a priced-ready scope of works, so contractors quote like for like.
• Procurement and tendering — we shortlist contractors from our Hampshire network, run the tender, deal with queries and give you a written recommendation on who to appoint and on what contract.
• Contract administration — we act as the named Contract Administrator under the building contract (typically JCT Minor Works or Intermediate), valuing work, issuing certificates and managing variations.

We do not take on residential work or new-build developments. Commercial fit out and refurbishment is all we manage.

For tenants moving into new premises

Taking a new lease is when your fit out costs and your future dilapidations liability are both set. We protect you on both.

• Before you sign — a schedule of condition records the premises as you take them, limiting what a landlord can claim at the end of your lease.
• Licence for alterations — we prepare the drawings and specification your landlord needs to grant consent, and respond to their surveyor’s comments.
• Cat B fit out — partitions, meeting rooms, kitchens, data, lighting and finishes designed around how your team works, and tendered to get a fair price.
• Planning for lease end — we keep a record of what was installed and design with removal in mind, so reinstatement at lease end is cheaper and easier to agree.
• Programme — we work back from your move-in date and lease start so you are not paying rent on space you cannot use.

See our wider solutions for commercial tenants.

For landlords fitting out or refurbishing to let

Every month a unit sits empty costs you rent, rates and service charge. We help you get it lettable quickly and spend money where tenants and agents will see value.

• Cat A refurbishment — ceilings, lighting, floor finishes, heating and cooling, WCs and common parts brought to a standard the local market expects.
• Shell and retail works — preparing retail and industrial units for incoming occupiers, including landlord’s works agreed in heads of terms.
• Energy performance — scoping improvements alongside the refurbishment where the EPC rating could affect your ability to let.
• Multi-let buildings — phasing works around occupied floors and existing tenants.

See our wider solutions for commercial landlords.

Southampton

We manage office fit outs and refurbishments in the city centre and Ocean Village, and industrial and trade unit works across Nursling, Eastleigh and the M27 corridor. Our Postmark Place scheme in Eastleigh involved fitting out four retail units for a landlord.

Winchester

Our home city. We work on period and listed commercial buildings in the city centre, where conservation and listed building consent can shape the scheme, as well as industrial space at Winnall. On Andover Road we moved from acquisition survey to full project management of a retail refurbishment.

Basingstoke

We support landlords and occupiers on office floors at Basing View, Chineham and the town’s business parks, where Cat A refurbishments between lettings and tenant Cat B fit outs are the most common projects we see.

Portsmouth

We cover offices at Lakeside North Harbour, retail in the city centre and Southsea, and industrial units across Portsmouth and the Havant area.

We also travel to manage projects across the rest of Hampshire and the surrounding counties.

How a project runs

1. Free initial call — we discuss the premises, budget, programme and lease position.
2. Fee proposal — a fixed fee or percentage fee, with deliverables and timescales confirmed in writing.
3. Survey and design — we inspect, measure and prepare drawings and the specification.
4. Tender — usually three to five contractors, with a tender report and recommendation.
5. Contract and works — regular site meetings, valuations, variations and progress reports.
6. Completion — snagging, practical completion, handover documents and the end-of-defects inspection.

Why use an independent chartered surveyor?

A design-and-build fit out company prices, designs and checks its own work. We act only for you. You get competitive tendering, an independent check on quality and cost, and a surveyor who understands the lease as well as the building. That matters most when a fit out today becomes a dilapidations question in ten years.