What was your first job in the industry?

Managing estates on the west coast of Scotland

What attracted you to working in surveying?

Surveying is highly flexible in the direction you wish to take your career. There’s a healthy mixture of office and site work and it’s intellectually stimulating whilst people based.

What have you enjoyed most about your time at Sheldon Bosley Knight?

As well as becoming part of a strong commercial team – seeing more of the ‘cogs’ turning in a multidisciplinary practice. There is always something interesting going on in an office that has planners, architects, strategic land, residential, rural and commercial surveyors and agents all working side by side.

Sum up your job in 3 words?

People, buildings, trust.

What is the most exciting thing about your job?

Never running out of surprises when faced with the next job or situation.

How has your role adapted to cope with coronavirus?

Working from home and not being able to conduct site visits has been the most tangible difference. Inevitably, the role of commercial property manager means that I am spending a significant amount more of my time trying to mitigate the effects on our tenants and landlords. 

Who or what inspires you most?

I generally have a couple of books knocking about within reach by Stephen Jay Gould, great one for bringing perspective.

What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given about the industry and who was it from? 

From one who spent all his working life in the industry as landlord, tenant and agent; Richard Chivers FRICS. “The landlord and tenant relationship only works when it is mutually beneficial; happy tenant, happy landlord.”

Followed by the characteristically dry rider, “and if, to maintain that pretence the agent needs as to act as a proxy whereby both sides can vent to you exactly what they would have liked to say to each other, then best to accept this early on in your career.”

Where is your favourite place to visit in Warwickshire?

I’m always getting in the way of people whilst looking up at the architecture in Stratford-upon-Avon.

If you could survey any famous building, which would it be?

Durham Cathedral would keep me busy!