Property Development Coach

Performance = Clarity × Action

Coaching for property developers and construction businesses. Run tighter, more profitable projects, and build a stronger business, not just a busier one.

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James Ahearne MRICS

Property Development Coach

Is the business running you?

Are you running a property development or construction business, or has it started running you? The work is there, but the business is busy rather than growing, cash is tight in the gaps between projects, and every decision still comes back to you.

Development adds a layer most sectors don't have. Every project is a business in its own right, with its own budget, its own programme, and its own ways to lose money: the appraisal or cost plan that doesn't survive the site, costs past where you priced them, planning as a gamble, margin gone by completion.

That's what I help with. We start with the business as a whole, then get a grip on the projects inside it. Tighter delivery, protected margins, and the decisions that are yours handed back to you.

Free 3-minute scorecard

Where does your business stand right now?

Answer a few questions and get an honest read on where your business is strong and where it could be tighter. It takes about three minutes.

The system

The Property Development PROFIT System

We work through six areas that decide whether a development or construction business makes money, at both business and project level.

Profit and Cash

Viability, margins and cashflow, at both business and project level.

Revenue and Marketing

The right work, the right sites, protected values.

Operations and Product

Programme, delivery, design, the scheme itself.

Financials and KPIs

Appraisals, cost control, the numbers that flag trouble early.

Innovation and Management

Decisions, problem-solving, repositioning what isn't working.

Team and Leadership

People, consultants and contractors pulling one way.

See the full system

About

James Ahearne MRICS, Property Development Coach.

James Ahearne MRICS is a chartered surveyor with 22+ years of experience building, leading, and advising businesses across property and development.

He has held land, property, and development director roles for national developers and investors, directing land and development strategy across the UK, from nine years delivering high-volume store development at Lidl UK to leading national strategy for a UK-wide retirement living developer.

Today he runs his own development consultancy advising institutional investors, landowners, and developers, leads an SME housebuilding business, and is co-founder of Ortelias, a PropTech company. He holds an ICF Level 2 accredited coaching certificate from Barefoot Coaching.

Clients describe him as an empathetic provocateur. He asks the questions you've been avoiding, and stays in your corner while you answer them.

He coaches property developers and construction businesses through the Property Development PROFIT System.

Selected work

Schemes shaped and delivered across the UK.

West Byfleet, now Botanical Place

A 197-home whole-life net zero town-centre regeneration, delivered as Development Director at Retirement Villages.

Visit the scheme

Tunbridge Wells, now Paramount Place

A stalled town-centre site, repositioned into a scheme now being built.

Visit the scheme

The Holloway, Birmingham

A 485-unit build-to-rent scheme, construction phase delivery for an institutional investor.

Watch the film

What clients say

In their words.

I found myself at a crossroads in my career when I was introduced to James. I had a sense of the direction I wanted to take, but I lacked clarity on the next steps. From our very first conversation, James was incredibly easy to talk to. As ...

I spent 6 months with James as my business coach during the second year of my new start up business. His input was timely and inspired me to implement new ways of thinking and to utilise the systems I had thought I had set up properly but h...

All names withheld. Client confidentiality is non-negotiable.

Free 3-minute scorecard

How clear is your business right now?

Answer a few quick questions and get an honest read on where your business is strong and where it could be tighter.

The BOSS Scorecard first page, showing your owner level across profit, systems, team and strategy

Book a call

Momentum, not meetings.

Book a Free Discovery Call

20 minutes. A focused conversation to understand where you are and whether we're the right fit.

Book a Free Business Review

60 minutes. A structured deep-dive into your business. You'll leave with a verified reading of where you are and what needs to happen next.