National Chartered Surveyors, Bruton Knowles, has launched a new Building Consultancy National Team to be headed up by new appointment Ian Mulvaney to drive forward its ambitious post-pandemic recovery and growth strategy.
A Chartered Management Building Surveyor by trade with over 25 years’ experience, Ian leaves a regional consultancy role and joins the company at a pivotal time. His expertise spans the comprehensive, yet diverse range of services offered across the commercial real estate industry.
Bruton Knowles recently reported an encouraging annual performance in June, with profits doubling and an increase in turnover to £13.5 million, showing the firm was bouncing back from the challenges of the Covid crisis.
The launch of the new Building Consultancy National Team, one of four that have now come online, marks the next phase of Bruton Knowles’ ambitious plans to future-proof the business.
Following a crucial restructure in 2020 that ensured agility, innovation, and flexibility in response to the pandemic, the company has now aligned its workforce across the National Utilities & Infrastructure, Valuation, Commercial and now Building Consultancy Teams.
The objective is to build on Bruton Knowles’ existing sector strengths whilst responding to changing market needs, to drive forward overall growth and consolidate its position as one of the best-known property consultancy brands in the UK.
Explaining the vision for the new Business Consultancy National Team, Mr Mulvaney, who also becomes a Partner at Bruton Knowles, said: “We all recognise the scale and seriousness of the global climate emergency, and as a business, we have a duty to respond to that situation alongside the wider property and construction industry.
“A major focus for this new National Team will be on sustainability and the green agenda. We must play our part in ensuring clients can proactively deliver carbon reduction targets in line with both emerging Government policy and their own stakeholder needs.
“This is especially important, given UK buildings account for 30% of the country’s carbon emissions, and that those arising from new construction accounts for half of that attributable to a building over its lifetime.”
“We also want to support our clients in meeting the improvement standards and legislative requirements arising in the post-Grenfell era. The scope of cladding, fire remediation and improvement works has significantly increased since the disaster.
“There are an estimated 9,600 buildings and 377,600 people impacted. Everyone has a right to live in a safe home, so we must all step up and face the challenges surrounding this.”
In addition to this renewed emphasis on environmental sustainability and fire safety, the Building Consultancy National Team – which currently comprises 11 individuals located across the country – will continue to deliver a high quality and trusted service in many of the more traditional areas in property and construction. These include dilapidations, party wall assessments, defects analyses, refurbishments, and building surveys.
Mr Mulvaney’s career has spanned both the public and private sectors, as well as large multi-national and smaller consultancies. He is experienced in many different sectors, including defence and infrastructure, and is highly skilled in areas like bank monitoring budgeting or contract design management and administration.
Mr Mulvaney joins Bruton Knowles from Fulkers Consultancy, where he was an Associate Director. The move offers him an exciting opportunity to shape and lead the National Building Consultancy Team at a time when the construction and property sectors are ‘building back better’ after an incredibly tough period.
Speaking about Mr Mulvaney’s appointment, James Bailey, Managing Partner at Bruton Knowles, said: “Ian will be a real asset because he brings a fresh approach and a wealth of experience to our new Business Consultancy National Team.
“This will prove invaluable in driving the firm forward as we seek to inspire our loyal workforce to ensure our strategic vision can be achieved. Attracting new talent has been a priority, and Ian will be integral to our senior management team.
“Our target is to grow Building Consultancy to 20% of our overall business portfolio turnover by the end of the 2022-23 financial year. This gives us almost two years within which to put it on a par with the average delivered by the other National Teams.
“Whilst it has been a hugely challenging year, we are now much more confident that we can thrive. The systems and structures have been put in place to ensure efficiencies and expedite delivery. These are great foundations upon which to build as we continue to provide specialist advice to our clients so they can also reach their full economic potential.”
Bruton Knowles’ ambition is to create a one-stop-shop for clients, with its National Teams providing a point of contact to deliver an entire project to the exacting standards required by each client.
Building Consultancy is the fourth National Team to be introduced to the UK market in 2021. It sits alongside Utilities & Infrastructure, Valuation, and Commercial within the business portfolio. National Teams have been significant for the business, and there are plans to launch more over the coming year.