On Thursday, 25th April, Caroline Woolley accepted an invitation from Leeds Beckett University to deliver a guest lecture to second-year building surveying students.
The students come from a wide range of backgrounds, from those starting University straight from school to some mature students obtaining their degrees via the apprenticeship route while working for Leeds City Council.
To obtain their BSc, the students explore the potential of buildings, design plans, help construct and manage structures, and make them sustainable by training to become a building surveyor.
Throughout the three-year course, students gain the skills required in design, law, management and technology to become a chartered surveyor on the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) accredited degree.
As part of the course, they:
What happens at the end of a lease is a key time for owners and occupiers to involve a building surveyor. Hence, lease-end dilapidations are a core part of what our building consultancy team does.
Caroline described the methodology and strategy around two current dilapidation surveys we have carried out on two very different properties. One is a high street retail unit in Skipton, where the tenant has left the property in a good state. The other is a 65,000-square-foot industrial premises in Normanton, where the Tenant’s operations over the last 20 years have not been so kind to the building, leaving it needing circa £900k worth of repairs and redecorations.
Building surveyors are paid to survey the buildings, quantify the repairs needed, cost those repairs, and then negotiate a settlement between the landlord and the tenant to allow the building to be repaired and re-let. The University students reported that they found it interesting to hear about how this works in practice and to see examples of common mistakes tenants make at the end of leases that can cost them dearly.
Leeds Beckett University has invited our building consultancy team to provide further guest lectures in the future and engage with their student placement programme for 2024-2025. Developing these links with higher education is hugely beneficial and helps us keep in touch with talented graduates as they progress in their careers.
This year we are featuring blogs about our people and giving them a platform to share their stories.
We spotlight the Associate Director within our Building Consultancy team, Tom Walker in our new ‘Inspire Interview’ feature, where we hear from our team – what their professional journey has been like so far and their advice and inspirations.
Tells us about your career journey to date
At school I wanted to be an architect; however, I quickly found out I couldn’t draw so I thought a career in architecture might not be for me. Then when looking at possible university courses found building surveying and never looked back.
I was lucky to secure a year out placement at a small independent practice in York as part of my degree and returned to the company after university where I gained my chartered status. I then moved to a large multi-discipline firm of surveyors in Leeds where I have been for the last 9 years before joining Bowman Riley earlier this year.
What’s your favourite thing about Bowman Riley?
The people, I have been made to feel very welcome.
What was your first job?
Working for the press association, doing the live score updates for football which involved speaking to ex-professional footballers at the games and inputting the data which feed into the BBC website and Sky Sports Vidiprinter.
What attracted you to a career in the built environment?
Building surveying appealed to me as I didn’t want to sit at a desk all day. The range of different instructions we can undertake means that there is always a variety of work on new and existing buildings.
What’s been your career highlight to date?
I worked on the former BHS Store in Lincoln. I undertook the landlord enabling works of the 34,000 Sq. ft store ahead of new tenant taking occupation. It was a challenging project with the unit extending beyond the client’s ownership and a large amount of asbestos within the building.
What piece of advice would you give someone entering the industry?
Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Tells us something people might not know about you?
I have run a marathon.
The refurbishment of a supported accommodation building for vulnerable young women in London is complete after two years of providing pro-bono building consultancy services.
Working for the charity, Oasis Community Housing, the project came about in 2019 following a discussion at a Women in Property event.
Our involvement was brokered by LandAid, who provided a £70,000 grant to help Oasis Community Housing renovate the 16-bed supported accommodation building for young homeless women containing flats, single rooms and mother and baby units.
We supported the charity beyond our original role of principal designer by agreeing and preparing a refurbishment schedule of works, administering a tender analysis and recommending a contractor, coordination, project management and contract administration during the life of the project. We were involved for two years and continued our service throughout the pandemic.
The project was challenging as the vulnerable residents needed to be moved to stay in hotels or with friends/family during the works and undertaking the works during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021.
“We are amazed by the tenacity of Bowman Riley to support this project. A big thank you for sticking with us. We really do appreciate the commitment you have shown to this project.”
Hazel Ditchburn, Corporate Relationship Manager, Oasis Community Housing
“We are so pleased to have helped this scheme reach a successful conclusion. The refurbishment will make such a positive difference to women at a time when they really need to be housed and supported. It’s something I am personally passionate about and am proud of my team particularly in Antony Wright for helping to deliver their vision.”
Caroline Fattorini, Director, Bowman Riley
The Motor Vehicle Workshop Extension at York College has now been completed ready for students to return after half term.
The £600,000 project has created much needed additional space to train the mechanics, engineers and vehicle technicians of the future in a state-of-the-art workshop facility.
We provided architecture, project management, building surveying, contract administration and the role of principal designer in-house working alongside Adept Consulting Engineers Ltd, RPS and harris cm limited.
The project started on site in late Spring during lockdown 2020. Fortunately, handover to the client has coincided with reading week at the College in November 2020, which will allow the tutors time and space to start getting set up before the students return for the next half term. The additional space will support social distancing measures at the College, as education environments remain open during the second lockdown of 2020.
The Motor Vehicle Workshop extension was delivered under our ongoing framework agreement with York College delivering multi-discipline services to support the College’s growth plans.
Bowman Riley has been working with Harrogate Town Football Club for the past four years redeveloping the CNG Stadium in a strategic move to help secure promotion to the English Football League for the first time in its history.
During the lockdown, construction work began to redevelop the stadium’s main stand. With just the seating to install, the play-off matches were televised on BT Sports in July with the main camera filming from within the new stand. The new stand increases capacity to over 5,000 spectators bringing the grounds up to Football League standard.
This new terrace provides more seating for families and supporters that would prefer to sit to watch the matches and provides a concourse with a food outlet, bar area and new toilet facilities.
It was a crucial investment for Harrogate Town Football Club for entry into League Two, now the team has realised its ambition of promotion from the National League.
The design team responsible for the developments at the stadium include Bowman Riley as the architect, project manager, contract administrator and principal designer with WSP Indigo as the planning consultant and Structsure as the engineer. The team worked closely with local contractors, Evora Construction and Harrogate Steel.
This project forms part of a phased redevelopment of Harrogate Town’s stadium to upgrade it’s player and spectator facilities to aid the club’s continued success and growth.
Darren Bush, Director, Bowman Riley said:
“We are proud to be supporting Harrogate Town FC’s on its fantastic journey. The club’s promotion is wonderful news for the local community and the visitor economy.”
Mark Reynolds, Director, Evora Construction added:
“We are really pleased to be working with Bowman Riley on this exciting development for Harrogate Town FC. The new facilities saw the Club fit for promotion, we wish them all the best in their continued success.”
Read more about Harrogate Town Football Club’s achievements in these recent news articles by the BBC and the Guardian,
The transformation of the Grantley Hall Hotel and Wellness Retreat wins at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Social Impact awards 2020 in the category of Heritage.
The magnificent Grantley Hall opened in the summer of 2019 as one of the UK’s most luxurious hotels and spas in the UK. This five-star country retreat is the only member of Relais & Châteaux in Yorkshire, was named ‘Best Newcomer 2020’ by Conde Nast and labelled the second-best new luxury hotel in the world by Luxury Travel Intelligence.
Bowman Riley helped transform the elegant Grade II* listed Grantley Hall into one of the UK’s finest country hotels surrounded by 30 acres of beautiful Yorkshire countryside in Ripon. Our team of architects and our principal designer worked alongside Lucas Lee, GHD, JMDA, two main contractors RN Wooler & Co and HACS and numerous other consultants and subcontractors to make the Grantley Hall vision a reality.
RICS Head Judge Mark Rugg said:
“Grantley Hall oozes historic character and quality. After decades of inappropriate uses and vacancy the multi-phase Grade II* listed mansion dating back to the 17th century, has been lovingly transformed into a five-star hotel and wellness retreat. The painstaking restoration programme included extensions and new buildings designed to enhance the character and use of the site. The Japanese Garden is a jewel in the crown and was designated a Grade II Registered Park and Garden during the course of the project.”
The RICS Yorkshire and the Humber award ceremony was scheduled to take place today on 5 June 2020 at the Centenary Pavilion at Elland Road in Leeds, however, due to the ongoing situation with COVID-19, the ceremony took place digitally.
A national grand final will be held later in September for those successfully nominated from each region – with property expert David Brooks Wilson leading a panel of guest judges to select those projects worthy of the top award.
Read our case study for Grantley Hall.
Read more about the RICS Awards.
Bowman Riley has provided multi-discipline consultancy services to extend York College’s specialist motor vehicle and engineering campus. The project has now started on site due for completion this summer in time for the new academic year in September 2020.
The £600,000 project will create a state-of-the-art workshop facility for students learning mechanics, engineering and vehicle technology in a modern, purpose-built environment. This building will further enhance the College’s ability to provide a wide range of vocational courses in motor vehicle maintenance and engineering.
Providing architecture, project management, building surveying, contract administration and the role of principal designer in-house, we are working alongside structural engineers Adept, mechanical and electrical engineers RPS and the contractor Harris CM.
Louise Doswell Deputy Chief Executive and Principal at from York College, said:
“It’s great to see work underway on what is an exciting development for York College. This new facility and the additional workshop space will further enhance the learning environment for students from across York and North Yorkshire. There is no doubt it will be a valuable addition to our offer in motor vehicle maintenance and engineering at York College.”
York College opened its doors in 2007 to more than 13,000 students on the south-western gateway to the City and at the time, the landmark £60 million campus was one of the largest building projects of its kind in the country.
We have been working with York College since 2018 when the company successfully bid to provide multi-discipline consultancy services under a framework agreement. Since that time, we have worked on several schemes including the repair to the central atrium roof, the remodelling of the library, circulation areas, the plumbing teaching spaces and the media make-up spaces.
Additionally, we supported the College’s successful application to become one of only 12 Institutes of Technology in England, which secures Government funding for the viability of several refurbishment and remodelling schemes across the campus under the Institute of Technology banner.
See our case studies for York College – Motor Vehicle Extension, Institute of Technology Projects and the Atrium Roof Repair.
Harrogate Town Football Club has moved forward in the construction work on their stadium as the club look to bring their ground up to Football League standard.
Bowman Riley provided the roles of architect, contract administrator and principal designer on the new stand to enable 880 spectators to sit undercover while watching matches to replace the existing 350-seat structure. This investment helps future proof the club’s home ready for when football can be played again and to support their ambition to rise in the football leagues.
The improvements will increase the stadium’s capacity to above the 5,000-mark and mean that there will be more than 1,000 seats in the ground; the minimum requirements for entry into League Two, should the team realise their ambition of promotion from the National League.
The new stand will provide significantly more seating so that the club can accommodate more families and supporters that would prefer to sit than stand to watch their football and will feature a concourse with a food outlet and bar area as well as male and female toilet blocks.
This project forms part of a phased redevelopment of the club’s stadium to upgrade it’s player and spectator facilities to aid the club’s continued success and growth. Working alongside local companies Evora Construction and Harrogate Steel, the work is expected to be completed in Summer.
Harrogate Town was second in the National League standings when the 2019/20 campaign was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
See press articles from the Harrogate Advertiser, Stray FM and Football Directory for more news about this project.
Caroline has made the shortlist for the first Yorkshire Leadership Awards, showcasing individuals who are having a significant impact on the success of their organisations and the wider region.
More than 35 leaders from across Yorkshire have been shortlisted, representing business, professional services, academia and third sector.
Sponsored by West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, Caroline will face stiff competition from leaders from Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Hollinbay, Leeds Bradford Airport and Premier Technical Services Group.
The winners will be revealed at the awards lunch on Wednesday 28 November 2018 at The Queens Hotel in Leeds.
Caroline joined Bowman Riley to head up our Building Consultancy team in March 2016 with responsibility for developing business, managing and mentoring the team and for ensuring the successful delivery of services.
Following a career in hotel management, Caroline retrained as a Building Surveyor. Following two years as a senior chartered surveyor with Lambert Smith Hampton in Leeds, Caroline brought these skills and previous property and hotel management skills to Bowman Riley with drive, enthusiasm and creativity.
Within the past 18 months, Caroline and her team have significantly grown the business in terms of staff members and turnover and have expanded the range of services lines offered. Her team of eight are working across the full, broad range of building surveying and health and safety services throughout the UK.
Securing two new framework clients, Bowman Riley Building Consultancy started working for York College and Craven Council this year helping to maintain and improve their built assets.
Caroline champions building surveying as a profession and women in property. She obtained Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors regulatory status for the business within her first few weeks and put in place a structured training programme to ensure graduate surveyors in the team receive the required mentoring, support and guidance needed to progress to become chartered surveyors.
To make contact with Caroline, download her Vcard.
LandAid’s Free Property Advice Programme matches the property skills of Bowman Riley with local charities in need of advice, enabling us to deliver our much-needed services sustainably. LandAid arranges free property advice for UK charities supporting disadvantaged young people, families and communities, including those experiencing homelessness.
Caroline Fattorini, Director of Bowman Riley Building Consultancy, was a former Ambassador of LandAid and Will Smithies, Building Surveyor is a current Ambassador.
Caroline commented:
“Using our skills to support a charity is a simple and rewarding way to make a real difference to our local communities. By giving expertise, our staff gain a satisfying level of engagement with local charities. It is definitely an important part of our corporate social responsibility.