Meet Rob...

Rob Walton

Chartered Building Surveyor

Working at Arcus —

I joined the Manchester office of Arcus Consulting in 2008 for a 12 month undergraduate year-out placement in industry whilst studying for my degree in Building Surveying at The University of Salford, Manchester. Following this year-out placement, Arcus supported me through my final year of studies by arranging a part time Assistant Surveyor role which then led on to a full time Graduate Surveyor position on completion of my degree.

As an Assistant Surveyor I worked as part of an experienced team delivering housing improvement schemes based around the Decent Homes standard for Housing Associations such as Trafford Housing Trust in Manchester and Peak Valley Housing Association in the Hattersley area. This gave me fundamental knowledge and practical experience of surveying techniques and exposed me to the diverse and important role Building Surveyors fulfil which was invaluable when I returned for my final year at University. Clive, the Managing Partner at Arcus, greatly supported and directed my University dissertation by providing access to key clients for my research around whether Government led regeneration grants are viewed to have achieved successful regeneration by the different stakeholders, particularly the community.

Soon after finishing my degree and returning full time with Arcus, I grasped the opportunity to move my office base to Liverpool. Moving to Liverpool in 2011 provided me with significant opportunity to develop personally and professionally, under the close management of Carl, Associate Partner at Arcus. From exposure to new clients and more commercially orientated construction projects, I was able to push hard and attain Professional Member status with the RICS in late 2013. The Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) was a daunting process but through guidance from my close colleagues and sitting the Arcus mock APC interview I felt more prepared and confident ahead of final assessment.

As a Chartered Building Surveyor in Liverpool I now assist Carl, the Office Manager, to successfully deliver several client commissions as well as manage a team of Surveyors. My client base regularly covers West Lancashire Council, Halton Council, the University of Liverpool, the Riverside Group, Magenta Living, Liverpool Mutual Homes and Onward Homes to name but a few. As a Surveyor, I regularly fulfil duties as a Project Manager, Contract Administrator and Lead Designer. More recently, I am developing new skills in the role as an Employer’s Agent and I am also receiving training to become a qualified member of the Association for Project Safety (APS) to fulfil the Principal Designer role under the 2015 CDM Regulations to better manage health and safety matters on the projects I am involved in.

During my time as Arcus the three most memorable projects I have completed are:

1. Halton Council, Fairfield School amalgamation works: £2.5M project to extend, enhance and refurbish Fairfield Infant and Junior Schools involving complex programming and detailed logistics to temporarily decant 300+ pupils, staff and equipment while maintaining an uninterrupted teaching environment.
2. Halton Council, Ashley School extension: £510k extension to provide a high quality 6th Form vocational teaching facility for students with high-functioning Autism and Asperger syndrome aged 16-19 years.
3. Halton Council Brookfields School Hydrotherapy Swimming Pool Refurbishment: £335k project to refurbish and enhance the facility to better serve the user group at this community special school for pupils with severe and complex learning difficulties. Works included the upgrade of the heating system to reduce energy use and running costs by incorporating heat recovery. This project attained Arcus Project of the Year in 2016.