Bernard (MEng, MICE, CEng, PDD Building Conservation) grew up working with his Father helping him refurbish the family homes which sowed the seed for a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Bristol.
He followed this with a career in large scale construction project management working on notable projects in London such as the refurbishment of the Grade II* listed HM Treasury in Whitehall. He also became a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers. Subsequently he set up and ran a renewable energy business in the South West of England before joining the family business in 2014.
Since then, Bernard has gained extensive practical experience in all aspects of conservation whilst running the family business. In 2018, he completed his Professional Development Diploma in Building Conservation and Repair in collaboration with Historic England (formally English Heritage). Bernard won the Historic England/John Ashurst prize, which is awarded to the student who embodies the qualities that John Ashurst held so dear – desire to learn, practical skills, enthusiasm, communication, and a current or potential contribution to conservation of historic buildings.
Brian started the business in 2005 but his interest in buildings started long before with three years of training to be a Surveyor at the College of Estate Management, Reading University. He subsequently choose a career in the Army but maintained a love of buildings by buying and doing up several old properties and learning skills in the process.
Since retiring from the Army, Brian completed a one year course, qualifying with a Professional Development Diploma in Building Conservation and Repair, in collaboration with English Heritage. He has also attended other courses on lime mortars, lime rendering, cob repair, repointing and flint work. Many of these were run by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) who’s principles we adopt where possible to our business.
Brian and Bernard love to talk conservation which hasn’t escaped the media! In the past Brian featured in Marianne Suhr’s Project Restoration series whilst Bernard and Brian contributed to an episode of Open Country on BBC Radio 4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0004sgb
More recently Bernard has given talks on building conservation to help share knowledge to local architects and artisan craftspeople through a series of IGNITE lectures.
