We sit down with James Doyle, Managing Director of Endeavor Group, a building safety consultancy and training provider supporting those responsible for some of the UK’s most complex and risky buildings.
North West-based and nationally operating Endeavor Group brings evidence-based, technical discipline to the built environment as regulatory scrutiny continues to increase.
With more than two decades of experience in offshore oil and gas, process safety and fire engineering, Doyle applies high-hazard industry practices to residential and commercial environments, helping organizations meet Building Safety Act requirements with a clearer understanding of their responsibilities.
His team works with clients to strengthen building security through intrusive assessments, security case assistance and accredited training. An accredited ProQual training center since 2018, the company offers nationally recognized qualifications in fire safety, passive fire protection and health and safety and is currently introducing three new fire risk assessment qualifications at levels 3, 4 and 5.
In addition to its work in the UK, Endeavor has been providing British standard training internationally via distance learning for several years. More recently, this has evolved into direct discussions with foreign organizations, including engagement in Dubai, who want to better understand how competence, evidence and decision-making impact inhabited, occupied buildings.
In this interview, Doyle discusses the challenges faced by those responsible for the Building Safety Act, why accuracy of evidence is important and what principles guide decision-making in a sector where the stakes are high.
What is the main problem you solve for your customers?
The biggest problem our customers face is the lack of reliable information at a time when expectations of those in charge have never been higher.
The Building Safety Act has changed the regulatory landscape, but many assessments in the UK are still carried out using visual surveys or template reports, which do not meet the level of evidence required by the legislation. This gap poses legal, financial and operational risks.
At Endeavor Group, our job is to provide customers with a clear picture. We carry out intrusive fire safety investigations, fire risk assessments, building risk assessments, safety incident reports, resident engagement support, remedial action planning and ongoing compliance management, all supported by photographic evidence, technical reasoning and structured reasoning. Each finding is linked to the intent of the firefighting strategy and the legal definition of a relevant defect, so there is no confusion as to what the issue is or why it is significant.
Through our partnership with Riskflag, we also support clients with a digital thread that organizes their evidence, actions and decision-making in a verifiable way. When people work with us, they gain trust and a path to compliance.
What motivated you to start your company?
Endeavor Group was founded in 2018 after more than two decades working in offshore oil and gas, process safety and fire engineering. In high-risk environments, assessment quality, forcefulness, and evidentiary value are not optional factors. You quickly learn that reassurance means nothing if it is not backed up by facts.
As I delved deeper into the built environment, I could see a growing gap between what legislation would ultimately require and what was being implemented on the ground. Many reports were unobtrusive. Many conclusions were based on assumptions rather than evidence. Organizations responsible for buildings made important decisions without the technical understanding to properly identify risks.
I founded Endeavor because the industry needed a consulting firm that applied technical discipline, communicated clearly, and delivered assessments that could withstand legal and regulatory challenges. What began as a specialist consultancy has grown into a national business supporting high-rise residential, supported living, student accommodation, retail, commercial, education and transport.
What are your brand values?
Competence, clarity and integrity are not marketing terms for us. They are the basis of our way of working.
Competency means having the technical depth to interpret fire strategies, identify relevant deficiencies, challenge assumptions and produce evidence that supports decisive actions. Clarity means presenting results in a way that those responsible, residents and regulators can understand them without ambiguity. Integrity means reporting what the evidence shows, not what people hope to hear.
These values guide how we approach every survey, safety case and advice we provide.
Do your values determine your decision-making process?
Yes, completely. We always ask ourselves: Would this stand up to regulatory, legal or third-party scrutiny? If the answer is no, we refine it.
Through years of working with the regulator, we understand their role in the “what if” question and ensure our reports fully meet this requirement and take appropriate countermeasures. We test our results and their failure modes using the offshore security case methodology, which ensures that every conclusion is backed up with reasoning.
The same standard applies to our training center, where the discipline of evidence underlies all our performance.
Is team culture an integral part of your company?
It is important. Our team is our strength.
Our work includes high-rise residential buildings, student residences, assisted living, nursing environments, and commercial and educational facilities. Each brings its own challenges, and our ability to deliver depends on a culture based on openness, technical curiosity and shared responsibility.
This collaborative approach also supports our international conversations, which focus on sharing experiences and understanding how similar challenges are addressed in different operating environments.
Are you communicating clearly with your audience about your messages?
Clarity is central to everything we do. Building security is technical, but communication should not be.
Our reports explain the problem, the evidence, the risk and the actions required in clear language. We avoid technical jargon and value giving those responsible information that they can use immediately. The same approach informs our training, where real-world examples help learners understand how laws apply in practice.
What is your attitude towards the competition?
There are organizations in the industry that do great work, but there are still significant differences in standards.
We regularly see surveys that lack a comprehensive inspection or do not link the results to the definition of a relevant defect. These reports may reassure people for the moment, but they do not provide the level of evidence required by the law.
What we do is based on quality, not comparison. We know our methodology is robust because our evidence has already led to changing results, including cases where developers took responsibility for defects after reviewing our results. Strong evidence promotes accountability.
What advice would you give to someone starting a business?
Focus on building strong expertise and don’t compromise on your standards. Consistency, honesty and quality work are far more valuable than volume.
Surround yourself with people who share your approach and invest in their development. When you focus on doing things right, reputation and growth will follow.
What three things do you hope to implement in the next twelve months?
Firstly, the full launch of our Building Safety Masterclass to help those responsible understand relevant defects, avenues of liability and evidentiary requirements under the law.
Secondly, expanding the portfolio of higher risk managed buildings and obtaining successful building assessment certificate approvals.
And thirdly, it is about continuing to explore international conversations, including the recent engagement in Dubai, where organizations operating complex, occupied buildings are asking similar questions about competence, accountability and the implementation of UK standard training and assessment into real-world decision-making.
