Prior to retiring at the end of 2024, I had a varied career in both building surveying and information technology. Looking back, it turns out I was self-employed for exactly half my 47 year long professional life, so with luck I can look forward to enjoying another 23 or 24 years of retirement…
As a Chartered Information Systems Engineer and Chartered IT Professional, I ended up running the software development and support department of a local company that specialised in computer systems for doctors’ surgeries. When I took over the department, it wasn’t exactly running smoothly... An ‘us and them’ culture had taken root and elements of a siege mentality were setting in as the development work was largely uncoordinated, and customer support issues were no longer being resolved in an acceptable time frame. Within months of my taking over, everyone was proud to be a member what they saw as an elite team within the company – as a result they would all move heaven and earth to resolve anything thrown at them. With such an attitude, new development work stayed firmly on track and the unresolved support backlog, which had previously meant some things took 18 months to be addressed, fell to zero. Shortly after this, I was ‘headhunted’ by a software company in Hampshire who then hired me out to another software company based in Lincoln, who promptly ‘headhunted’ me again! This saw me getting involved with UK payroll software for the construction sector. As a result of various corporate takeovers and management buyouts, I eventually ended up as the UK payroll software consultant for a company in Dublin.
I always found buildings, especially old ones, much more interesting than information technology. As a result, although I trained as a general buildings surveyor, I ended up specialising in historical buildings with an emphasis on damp and its associated decay – most of which has been caused by inappropriate 20th century maintenance, such as so called ‘damp proofing’. Due to a shortage of historical building surveyors and a lack of knowledge about dampness among surveying/architectural professionals, this work took me all over the country. I was recommended by conservation officers, consulted by the National Trust, and was privileged to advise owners of an amazing selection of wonderful old buildings ranging from large country houses, through farmhouses and ancient townhouses, to small cottages.