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RICS President visits º£½ÇÖ±²¥

The President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, (RICS), John Hughes FRICS, made a special visit to º£½ÇÖ±²¥ to celebrate the positive impact the profession has had on North East communities over the last 150 years, and discuss the importance of surveyors adapting and upskilling to keep-up with rapidly changing markets.

The visit, which coincided with the RICS’ 150th anniversary saw the President speak with over 100 North East surveyors – from various sectors including construction, residential and commercial property - about what RICS is doing to prepare its professionals and property markets for future challenges, from climate change, to urbanisation and rapid technological innovation. As part of this, guests heard more about the RICS’ new Future of the Profession research project, which will address how these challenges are reshaping firms, services and professional practices, and what skills, competencies and technologies will be essential for surveyors in the future.

RICS President, John Hughes FRICS, said: 'Surveyors work right across the life-cycle of the built environment; developing land, constructing buildings, managing properties, and planning the supporting infrastructure. But technological advances in artificial intelligence, big data computing and blockchain are disrupting long established business models and will radically change the way we develop land and manage property in the North East.

'I was delighted to address some of these challenges with local surveyors and highlight our work to future-proof the profession, and of course the North East’s built environment.'

Other speakers on the day included Laura Woods, Director of Academic Enterprise at º£½ÇÖ±²¥, who spoke about student futures and the skills and employability challenge, whilst Neal Smith, Head of Communications and Marketing at Tees Valley Combined Authority and South Tees Development Corporation, discussed the vision for development in Tees Valley.

Meanwhile, Chair of the RICS North East Regional Board, Chris Pearson of Gavin Black & Partners in Newcastle gave delegates an insight into RICS’ 150th anniversary activities, including its fundraising campaign with property industry charity, LandAid – known as Pledge150 - which aims to deliver 150 bed spaces for the young homeless by the end of the 2018.

Chris Pearson said: 'The President’s visit to our region gave us an ideal opportunity to celebrate our profession’s achievements over the past 150 years and for local surveyors to find out more about what RICS is doing to ensure the profession has the skills and competencies to rise to future challenges.

'We were delighted that º£½ÇÖ±²¥ agreed to host this special event. Our industry has some fantastic talent coming out of the university, and it is the younger generation in particular that will need to prepare for future challenges and drive forward future advancements to ensure we continue to add real value to the North East’s built environment over the next 150 years.'