New RICS boss plans to woo disgruntled QSs

Sean Tompkins, the newly appointed chief executive of the RICS, has vowed to heal the rift between the institution and its discontented QS members.

Tompkins, whose appointment was announced on Tuesday, replaces Louis Armstrong in the full-time, £406,000 a year post in August.

He said he would meet the heads of the largest QS firms in the coming months and work with the QS and Construction Professional Group within the RICS on promoting the QS profession globally. The institution aims to consolidate its presence in China and India and expand into Russia and Brazil.

Tompkins said: “We will focus on creating a long-term plan to develop the QS profession throughout the world, rather than spending time on the things we don’t agree on. The most important issue for QSs is that their profession is recognised as the global standard.”

He added that he favoured keeping the RICS within the Construction Industry Council (CIC) “in the immediate future”. But he warned the RICS would stay for the long term only if the council reduces bureaucracy and ensures that the views of surveyors were heard within it.

“We are committed to working with the CIC but we must make sure it modernises and that we get value for the money we pay.”

The RICS said in November that it would leave the CIC, prompting a group of QS firms to threaten to leave the RICS and set up their own body. Last month the institution announced it would remain within the CIC.

Tompkins also pledged to end a second row within the RICS, over whether the body is run by its members or by its paid officials. He said: “I want to end this ‘them and us’ debate and turn the institution into a partnership between staff and members.”

He added that he did not expect RICS membership fees to rise by more than inflation for several years.