Rob Smith retires from Davis Langdon after 36 years

Rob Smith, former senior partner at Davis Langdon, has retired from the company after 36 years.

Smith oversaw negotiations that led to the QS’ takeover by US engineering giant, Aecom, in August last year. He left the company on 30 April following an announcement in October that he would be stepping down.

Since the deal, which ended Davis Langdon’s partnership structure, Smith has worked as a consultant at the QS.

He put his retirement on hold for a year to negotiate the £204m deal with Aecom, which took around a year to hammer out.

In September last year he tried to reposition Davis Langdon to develop a “McKinsey-like” approach that would enable it to advise clients at a much earlier stage of the project cycle.

In 2003, Smith took over from Paul Morrell, the former senior partner, who is now chief construction adviser to the government.

In 2007, Smith collected the Building award for Construction Consultant/Surveyor of the year on behalf of Davis Langdon.

He said he has “no firm plans” for his retirement but has in the past suggested that he could work in the not-for-profit sector.

In a message he said: “After 36 years, I will be retiring from Davis Langdon on 30 April and would like to thank you for your support during my time with the firm.”