About us

I am new to the Building Consultancy Industry having spent most of my professional career in Sales and Manufacturing. However, I am excited to have made the leap into a sector which interests me, and I intend to embrace the challenges that this brings.

I have always worked as part of a collaborative team environment and look forward to doing the same in my new role at Black Cat. I am eager to develop on my own skillset whist supporting our business clients in achieving their goals. Also, ensuring my colleagues have the support they need on a day-to-day basis to ensure maximum productivity which in turn will mean a positive customer service.

In my spare time I am a passionate equestrian and often compete in British Dressage competitions around the Northwest Region. My aim is to work up the levels with my two horses. With what little time I have left (if I'm not sleeping) I love to socialise with my friends and family and try my best to fit my very understanding partner in.

During my decade long career, I was primarily employed at Workman LLP where I quickly worked my way up to the position of Senior Associate before joining Black Cat in the Spring 2018.

My career has found me working primarily within the industrial, office and retail sectors and my experience has seen me further develop my skills in all aspect of professional and project work for investment funds, private investors, landlords and occupiers.

The fresh and exciting approach to building surveying which Black Cat utilise is one which I relish the opportunity to learn.  The focus and attention to detail which I deliver on each piece of work for every client ensures that we meet all their requirements.

I have two young boys who are keen footballers so most of my time is spent carting them from one thing to another.  When I eventually get some actual downtime, I spend it with my family and do occasionally get to watch the best team in the land and all the world, Manchester City Football Club.

Following graduation in 2010 I returned to Workman LLP in their Manchester office, where I’d spent my placement year. I built my career over the next 7 years progressing to Associate level, before joining Black Cat in 2017.

Although my focus has primarily been on the commercial property sector working on shopping centres and office buildings, I have experience in all aspects of professional and project work acting for a variety of investment funds and institutional clients. I’m focused and diligent in my work to ensure my clients get the level of service they require and that results are delivered.

In my spare time I’m a keen amateur golfer (emphasis on the amateur) and also a keen globetrotter with the aim to visit as many places in the world as possible.  Like most of the team, I am incredibly sociable and enjoy spending time with friends and family when I can.

I am one of the founding Directors of Black Cat Building Consultancy and specialise in Due Diligence, Project Management and Dilapidations.

I have over 20 years’ experience operating within the industrial, manufacturing, office and retail sectors. I advise a range of investors, funds and occupiers with property interests regionally, nationally and occasionally I act within Europe.

I have held positions within DTZ, Savills and latterly CBRE and have a broad experience. I take the time to understand our clients’ business interests, performance requirements and their wider business strategy and then tailor our advice and reporting formats to suit their specific requirements.

The equestrian world is where I like to spend my spare time with my wife and daughters and although watching them jump obstacles is incredibly nerve-racking, to watch them compete and enjoy the sport is a very proud moment for me. As much as I enjoy the equestrian world, there is nothing like being on the open sea with just my family and we always look forward to where our next sailing holiday will take us.

I started my design career over 35 years ago at an architectural firm.  I have since worked for developers, a design agency (Fitch) and Workman for the intervening years. 

My design work has seen me work within all the major sectors (retail, leisure, industrial, offices) and for some of the biggest brands out there with examples including Harley Davidson and Disney.  I have also been involved in most of the major shopping centres in the UK with the Bullring in Birmingham being a particular highlight.

During my career, I have kept my knowledge up to date with the latest design standards so the clients can feel confident that the service I provide meets all of their requirements.

I have quite a few daughter’s so my weekends are often filled with being a taxi driver and carting them from one place to another with help from my wife.  When I do get some downtime, I like to catch up on the latest cinema offerings or spend quality time with my family.  I am a keen motorcyclist and can often be found riding my bike to meetings, to the office or just for general enjoyment.

I have over 30 years’ experience as a Chartered Building Surveyor working predominantly in the private commercial, industrial and retail sectors. Latterly, I have also been involved in a number of student and private rented sector projects.

During my career, I have gained particular experience in complex refurbishment projects, development monitoring, dilapidations, due diligence and providing general advice on property upkeep and maintenance.

I regularly represent investment funds, private investors, landlords and occupiers and provide strategic property advice tailored to suit their particular requirements. I always deliver on timescales and provide accurate, honest, best in class advice without compromise.

In my spare time I enjoy keeping fit and am a volunteer guide dogs boarder which involves me caring for trainee guide dogs at the weekends, which if truth be told, is not vastly dissimilar from caring for my children when they are home from university.  Football is another passion of mine and I like to spend as much time as possible in the Lake District fell walking with my family and friends. 

As one of the founding Directors of Black Cat, I pride myself on delivering on the values and principles of this business. I get to know our client’s businesses so that I can provide commercially focused advice based upon not just my technical knowledge but my understanding of their priorities. I am inquisitive and enthusiastic. I challenge everyone and everything, including our clients, to make sure they are getting the best solution.

I have previously held positions at Deloitte and CBRE where I have gained invaluable experience in delivering commercially focused property advice and services. I have a broad range of experience across Office, Industrial and Retail sectors. Whilst I specialise in Project Management and Contract Administration, I have experience of Neighbourly Matters, CDM Co-ordination, Dilapidations, Tenant Alterations, Project Monitoring and Technical Due Diligence surveys.

I was born and raised in Wigan which meant that I grew up with a pie in one hand and a rugby ball in the other. Unfortunately, my fondness for the former scuppered my chances of making a professional career in the latter. I now have a wife and two very demanding young daughters so in what little spare time I do have, I try to stay involved in rugby as much as I can and catch up with friends as often as possible.

I have been a building surveyor for ten years and have previously held positions at DTZ and latterly CBRE. I undertake the full sphere of building surveying work with a specialism in technical due diligence and dilapidations.

I have purchased buildings for a range of institutional clients across all sectors including shopping centres, offices and industrial and have worked on some of the largest transactions in the UK and Europe.

I was born in Somerset and moved to Manchester in 2005 which is a fantastic city and a great logistical base to service the UK from, especially important when my clients own stock in Falmouth and Aberdeen. My claim to fame is having been a contestant on “Deal or No Deal”.  My evenings and weekends are often spent with either my wife and daughters or the other love of my life, Burnley Football Club where I am a proud season ticket holder.

Prior to finding a home at Black Cat, I worked primarily as a touring musician, but have thoroughly enjoyed venturing into the world of commercial property and building surveying!

My first two years at the company were spent as part of the admin team, performing a wide range of tasks to support the surveyors and helping to run the company’s social media platforms and recently re-vamped website. Over the last 9 months I have been taken under the wing of our design director, Chris Bright, and have been learning the ropes as a CAD Technician, undertaking measured surveys and attempting to soak up some of his 35 years of experience and knowledge.

As you can imagine, interests outside the business are largely performing and composing a wide variety of music, as well as taking a keen interest in culture and politics, and spending quality time with my wife, daughter, family and friends

I graduated Swansea University in 2015 with a BA in Classical Civilisation. After graduating I decided to train as a teacher where I successfully gained a PGCE in Primary Education. I later decided it was not a career path I wanted to continue pursuing but am fortunate for the skills that I gained and am able to bring forward into my current career.

Prior to joining to Black Cat, I spent 4 years as an administrative assistant at Russell WBHO, both in the main office and on site. This allowed me to gain a wider understanding of the industry and provided me with the relevant building knowledge and skills that I presently use to support our surveyors with their everyday work.

As well the admin side at Black Cat, I also work with the digital marketing side of the company, creating content, keeping our social media pages up to date and maintaining the company website. Presently, I am gaining a further qualification with the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

In my spare time I enjoy socialising with my friends and partner, dancing and watching live music. I try and keep as healthy as possible by regularly staying active, but equally, I am also fortunate enough to live in a city with a vast amount of amazing foods to try.

I have over ten years Building Consultancy experience working with private and public sector clients in multiple sectors including industrial, office, retail, education, and multi-sector mixed portfolios. I have undertaken multiple instructions where Enhance Security Check clearance is required.

I started my career with Ridge and Partners before moving to Mapp in 2014, qualifying as a Chartered Building Surveyor in 2015. In 2016 I joined Lambert Smith Hampton progressing to Associate Director where I was responsible for managing several key local and national client accounts. My career has focused predominantly on project management, property portfolio strategy and dilapidations for both occupiers and landlords; however, I am experienced in all core building surveying services including technical due diligence, BRCA, planned maintenance.

I pride myself on client care and take a genuine interest in my client’s business and personal interests which enables me to provide advice tailored to their business strategy. Working within a dynamic and agile business like Black Cat is a refreshing opportunity to deliver bespoke advice that adds tangible benefits to our clients.

I like to spend most of my free time with my partner and young son, so you can mainly find me in soft play centres and swimming pools at the weekend. Aside from family duties my keen interests are rugby league, motorsport, motorcycles, and anything else to get adrenaline pumping!

I have over 40 years’ experience in the construction industry. A huge amount of time as a Building Control Surveyor, culminating in running the major projects group at Manchester City Council. I was responsible for a team of surveyors looking after: MEN Arena, City of Manchester Stadium (for the Commonwealth Games and following on the home of Manchester City FC), Bridgewater Hall (home of the Halle) along with major demolition and re-construction following the IRA bomb in 1996.

I was head hunted by Arup as a fire engineer, promoted and spent a lot of time with Network Rail on various infrastructure projects including Edinburgh Waverly station, and as a fire engineer produced the fire strategy for FC Shakhtar Donetsk in Eastern Ukraine.

For the majority of my working life, I have been involved in Building Regulations and have a major focus on fire related matters. Post Arup I started my own practise as EFL Consulting and for over 10 years I have been advising clients around the UK on regulatory matters.

I also joined the Territorial Army, serving in the Royal Engineers and rose to the rank of Major. I served in many countries including Iceland, Namibia, USA, Canada, and Europe. Carrying out traditional Royal Engineer roles such as road and bridge construction, and explosive demolitions. 

I have worked with Black Cat on a good number of projects and admired the way they operate, the opportunity to join them and use my experience for the wider Black Cat team was too good to miss.

My personal time is spent on the family farm, keeping me active and outside in all weathers. I like working with wood and have designed and made dining room tables for friends. I have three Land Rovers the oldest being 1959 series II, and I do like maintaining them as runners.

With my wife and two children, we like walking, skiing, and sailing, when we find the time, although I am looking more to warmer sailing climates than UK.

I began my career on the Graduate Scheme at JLL, spending the first two years in the London office before moving to Manchester where I spent the next five years working my way up to Associate Director. I worked primarily for large institutional investors across market and sector specialist areas including Offices, Retail, Leisure, Industrial and Logistics, Mixed Use Developments, Education, Healthcare and Alternative Assets such as Data Centres and Self-Storage.

I have wide and varied experience across a number of core Building Surveying areas including Contract Administration, Technical Due Diligence (Acquisitions and Disposals), Project Management, Development Monitoring, Planned Maintenance Programmes, Reinstatement Cost Assessments and all aspects of Dilapidations.

As much as I enjoyed working for a large corporate and making the most of the opportunities available there, it became more and more apparent to me that Building Surveying, as an industry, has remained largely unchanged for a very long time. It felt as though it was waiting for its own version of Uber or Airbnb to shake things up. The more I learned about Black Cat’s business model and work culture, the more convinced I became they would be the first real ‘disruptor’ to the industry. By the time I’d finished reading Stephen’s ‘Time to Reflect’ blog post on the website I was completely sold on the company and couldn’t wait to join.

When I’m not working, you’ll typically find me outdoors; cycling, swimming, running, golfing or going on adventures with my wife and two dogs keep me busy most of the time. I also enjoy spending time at the gym and tinkering with my Triumph Bonneville. I spend as much time as possible with friends and family and, like all the other Black Cat’s, I love a good night out!

I have over 17 years’ experience as a Chartered Building Surveyor working in both the private and public sectors, including commercial, industrial, retail, leisure, defence and education sectors.

I graduated from the University of Salford in 2002 and started my career at EC Harris (Arcadis) where I spent 12 years and became chartered in 2007. I then moved to Aedas (AHR) for 8 years, where I progressed to Regional Director during that time.

I have a wide range of experience encompassing both core building surveying and project management. During my career, I have focused on asset management and delivering new build, repair and refurbishment projects. I also have experience in managing condition surveys, dilapidations, pre-acquisition surveys, repairs and maintenance.

I regularly lead a multi-disciplinary team to deliver capital schemes to a successful conclusion, communicating closely with clients and advising on implementation strategies. I have represented a variety of clients including public authorities, trusts, private investors, developers, landlords and occupiers, providing tailored advice to suit their needs. I pride myself on going the extra mile, delivering on time and providing impartial trustworthy advice.

In my spare time, I enjoy days out with my family and taking my children to various activities such as dancing, swimming and horse riding. When I find the time, I enjoy socialising with friends and watching my local football team.

Having moved from Dublin to London in 1994, my first foray into the property industry was via a MEP services consultancy firm in London, where I learned skills that have stood me in good stead over the years. Moving on to a chartered surveying firm after four years, I worked with the Valuation Department in the West End, working on valuation reports, monthly fund valuations and the like. During this time at Weatherall Green & Smith, I moved to Manchester, managing the newly set up office and working with all departments.

Having worked in various sized offices, in different departments over the years, I have learned to adapt to the changing circumstances, whilst gaining an understanding of the language specific to surveying.

I bring to Black Cat long-acquired knowledge and experience to everything I do to ensure what is produced is at its best. My can-do way of working means that I take on whatever is needed to be done and I enjoy getting stuck into mammoth tasks. I am always keen to learn new facets of Microsoft Office, of which there are a few!

In my spare time I enjoy reading, mainly crime fiction, and I am currently re-engaging with my love of photography. When I get the chance, I “enjoy” getting dragged up various hills or long walks. My baking skills are being improved on when the creative bug gets me! This is then tempered with going to the gym...you’ve got to burn it to earn it!

I am Chartered Building Surveyor and have been in the industry since 2009.  I started my career at Deloitte Real Estate, latterly moving on to CBRE and specialising in Project and Programme Management.

During my career I have undertaken the full range of building surveying, contract administration and project management activities, including acquisition, condition and dilapidation surveys, office fit outs, new builds and dare I say it, special projects.

Whilst at CBRE I was outsourced into the Bank of America’s EMEA Real Estate team and was responsible for the delivery of some important real estate projects tied into their BREXIT strategy, including the relocation of their key trading hub in Frankfurt and the creation of their European Head Office in Dublin.

I have found that I naturally moved into Project Management as I particularly enjoy being involved in projects from inception and helping to shape the delivery plan to achieve the client’s strategic objectives.  I joined Black Cat in April 2021 to help grow their project management team and delivery capabilities.

Outside of work, I am the proud father of a little girl who keeps me busy.  When I’m not playing with dolls, I get myself out there: indoor bouldering; watching/playing sport; socialising; a spot of DIY; cooking up a storm etc.

I have over 40 years’ experience commencing in 1977 with the majority of that time spent at Partner/Director level, developing and managing building surveying services within the various permutations of Bernard Thorpe and DTZ which ultimately became Cushman and Wakefield.

I am active in all aspects of building surveying but take a particular interest in Project Management, Employers Agent, Due Diligence and Dilapidations. My client and sector lists are very broad and cover the full spectrum of the property industry including education and the public sector. The opportunity to work with the talented individuals in Black Cat was too good to miss, so retirement can wait a while!

My personal time is spent mostly gardening, taking walks in the countryside as a means to keep fit and spending time with my wife, children and family whenever I get the chance to see them.  In the most recent years, I have become a grandfather for the first time and spending time with her is truly one of my most favourite things to do as it is quite amusing to see what new fangled ideas have cropped up since my children were young.  Although it may seem that my personal time is quite a sedate life, have no fear because if I am allowed near a trampoline, go-kart or axe-throwing, I become a fiend and am at the front of the queue for my turn.

My professional career began 4 years ago within a business which provided financial services to SME’s and the experience I received during this time has enabled me to fully understand the absolute importance of making sure we run smoothly as a company so that our clients receive the best possible service from us.

I ensure that my knowledge is constantly being tested and expanded upon so that I can provide our clients with the best service offering we can. By constantly learning new skills, I am able to make sure that clients of Black Cat are receiving the best client experience available and that their requirements are being met by our constant strive to deliver a best in class service.

I spend much of my downtime with my family, friends and partner socialising and enjoying life.  I am a keen equestrian and take part in dressage competitions throughout the country to further develop my riding skills.  Musical theatre, films and concerts are also particular interests of mine and are something which I try to attend at least once every month.

Prior to my move to Black Cat, my entire career so far was spent at a well known and respected Manchester practice of quantity surveyors and loss adjusters, Tozer Gallagher LLP. I started as a Junior Surveyor in 1999 and worked my way up to Partner during an enjoyable 22 years. I’ve been working with and alongside Black Cat since the company was started in 2015.

My experience is wide ranging, acting as Quantity Surveyor and Employer’s Agent on industrial, commercial, retail, residential and educational projects providing sound and balanced cost, contractual and commercial advice and documentation to both private and public sector clients. As an additional skill set, I have over 13 years’ experience acting as a Loss Adjuster in the Surety market, acting for major blue chip guarantor bond providers, which has provided me with a unique and unrivalled perspective on construction projects, contracts and insolvency scenarios.

The opportunity to join Black Cat, which is an exciting, progressive and dynamic, client focused, business was too good to turn down and was a natural progression. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with the founding Directors and wider Black Cat team, and I am incredibly excited to continue this “in house” as Black Cat’s first Quantity Surveyor!

When I am not working, I like to spend time with my family and friends and we like to go walking in the local countryside with our dog. A typical weekend will consist of ferrying our children to each of their football, cricket, gymnastics and horse-riding activities but we love watching them grow up and achieve their goals. I was a keen amateur cricketer but latterly my focus is teaching my son and daughter everything I know (or don’t know) about the game.