The RICS Podcast

In achieving large-scale diversity and inclusion, a diverse workforce is only half the puzzle - empowerment comes from a truly inclusive culture throughout your business. Joining Sybil Taunton (RICS, Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) on this week’s RICS Podcast are Chanelle Gray (Savills, Head of Diversity and Inclusion) & Marsha Ramroop (Founder of Unheard Voice).  We hear how to ide...

The conversation around accessibility in the built and natural environment continues to grow, with disability rightly becoming a priority when designing spaces. Mike Adams is CEO of Purple, and continues to lead changes in the disability conversation, and joins RICS’ Sybil Taunton alongside Accessibility & Inclusive Environments Specialist, Jean Hewitt for this week’s episode of The RICS Podca...

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as values may begin within your own organisation, but how can we ensure that the same commitment extends throughout our supply chain? Martin Smith, Director at TFT, and Ian McGuinness, Partner at Knight Frank LLP, join our Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Sybil Taunton to share methods to instil similar values with supply partners. This episode of The RICS...

How has the way art surveyors assess the provenance of art and antiquities changed over the years? And what unique challenges are there in authenticating and valuing artworks from different regions and eras? These are some of the topics considered in the latest episode of the Modus podcast Building the Future. Speaking on the podcast are Marianne Magnin, executive director at Art Identification St...

Rivers and other bodies of water play a huge part in the environment’s impact on human health, which means it’s vital to keep water quality in our rivers top of mind. When it comes to trends in river pollution, Professor Steve Ormerod is a leading figure in tracking our rivers’ water quality, as Professor of Ecology and Co-Director of the Water Research Institute at Cardiff University. We hear fro...

The final assessment can naturally set off nerves for many candidates preparing for their presentations, so this week’s Candidate Support podcast is centred around calming nerves and preparing to perform at your peak. Offering perspectives from the candidate side and as an assessor herself, Michelle Parkes joins Candidate Engagement Manager Ellie Sainsbury to share strategies to calm nerves ahead...

Social media has enabled everybody to publicise views and opinions on a stage that wouldn’t otherwise be possible, a wonderful tool with potentially harmful consequences for businesses if misused. To help navigate the complexities of how to react when a professional uses their freedom of expression in a way which endangers their firm’s reputation, we hear from RICS Technical Specialist Emma Dowd a...

No surveyor hopes, nor usually expects to find themselves needing to defend their competency in a court scenario, but for those who do, Alexandra Anderson is well versed in how best to make your case. As a Construction Partner at Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLC, Alexandra has a wealth of experience acting for surveyors. She joins Antony Parkinson MRICS on The RICS Podcast to share how surveyors ca...

The gender split in construction is heavily one-sided, but through an exciting, bold renovation project with an all-female team, Kat & Fiona Parsons are leading a shift to level out those figures. With their construction backgrounds and passion for diversity and inclusion issues, the duo join RICS’ Sybil Taunton on this episode of The RICS Podcast to share how they’re tackling the project. Tun...

The valuation of real estate investment assets plays a critical role in supporting confident markets and economic stability. To future proof practices in this area, RICS commissioned a valuation review , and an important conclusion of the review was to ensure there is more clarity and transparency in the use of valuation methods. This week on The RICS Podcast Charlotte Neal leads us in a discussio...

In another of our candidate support instalments of The RICS Podcast, we are delighted to be joined by RICS member, assessor and mentor, Jen Lemen FRICS .  Offering a perspective from the other side of the interview table, Jen shares advice on how to prepare for the big day, and some best practice hints and tips to get you through the interview.  This episode of The RICS Podcast covers: How candida...

Cities are a diverse structure by their very nature, and tackling the challenges of equity in housing, education and welfare are paramount for McKinsey’s Jonathan Woetzel. Jonathan is the Global Leader of their Cities Special Initiative, affording him an ideal perspective on how cities can grow in diversity and inclusivity.  We hear from Jonathan as he joins RICS’ Head of Diversity, Equity & I...

The latest episode of Building the Future focuses on queer spaces, how they are used by LGBTQ+ people today and why they need to be preserved.   The podcast returns to an important topic covered last year by a Modus article on the crisis queer venues are facing . It is hosted by Kelly Canterford MRICS, founder of Tigrou Consulting and co-chair of Freehold , a networking group for LGBTQ+ people wor...

In April 2022, the Building Safety Act gained Royal Assent, an act which promises to fundamentally change how we design, build and manage properties. As with any lengthy bill with hundreds of clauses, though, it’s important to know the key issues surrounding the Act. Who better to lead us through an episode of The RICS Podcast than RICS’ Global Building Standards Director, Gary Strong. In episode...

The real estate industry has the power to create tangible, large-scale change, and opportunities within the sector are becoming increasingly accessible to those from more diverse backgrounds. With an incredibly prolific CV of experiences to draw on, Sue Brown is a leading figure in evolving the real estate sector as Managing Director of Real Estate Balance. We hear from Sue on The RICS Podcast as...

Alongside the surveying profession comes the responsibility to become a key decision maker, with aspects such as being an expert witness, compulsory purchase and telecoms disputes Peter McCrea is a member of the Upper Tribunal of the Lands Chamber, and calls upon his vast experience to settle legal disputes concerning land and property issues. We hear from Peter in this week’s podcast episode as h...

In this podcast, Gill Quinn , Head of Candidate Support, will discuss the five steps we think are important to focus on when submitting for Final Assessment. And we are joined by Mike Pain , FRICS, Assessor, Chair, and all-round champion of all things candidate-related!  If you are based outside of the UK & Ireland or would like to view further candidate support material, visit our dedicated p...

As we move towards a net-zero world, the need to achieve sustainability will require us not only to consider new projects, but retrofitting existing buildings for the long term. Leading this key conversation with consideration for social value and the role of technology in this WBEF episode of The RICS Podcast, we hear the valuable insights of Susanne Eickermann-Riepe and Christopher Seymour. This...

In our latest episode, our director of thought leadership, Ken Creighton speaks to Stuart Fraser a disaster risk expert. With most of the world susceptible to some kind of natural disaster and as the risks increase, this wide ranging discussion hones in on areas such as the importance of reliable data to inform risk management and mitigation and to assess the cost of recovery and reconstruction. F...

Mark D. Fergus is a man whose career path demonstrates the incredible breadth of roles that those in the surveying profession can undertake, as far afield as the US and Dubai. Now based in Los Angeles as Executive Vice President of Cumming Group, we hear from Mark as he details the growth of ESG within global roles, adapting to differing regional approaches, and advice for those beginning their jo...

In this episode of the Modus podcast Building the Future, RICS’ senior vice president Ann Gray FRICS speaks to Native American architect Sam Olbekson, a citizen of the White Earth Nation of Minnesota Ojibwe. Olbekson, who works with indigenous organisations across the US, describes how and why he launched a Native American-owned architecture practice, Full Circle Indigenous Planning & Design....

With September 2022’s Joint Position Statement on moisture and its effects on traditional buildings, we’ve seen one of the largest voluntary, collaborative, cross-industry commitments to improve standards. The document represents a remarkable step towards a unified understanding of the principles and competencies that should be used in the assessment of moisture within a traditional building. To b...

Accessibility & inclusion are among the fastest moving areas of development, and since 78% of disabilities are acquired in adult life, it’s an issue that’ll affect many of us even beyond our current awareness. The built environment plays a huge role in creating an accessible and inclusive world, and joining us on this week’s World Built Environment Forum podcast to discuss this pressing topic...

Rights of light can be an area of particular complexity when dealing with developments in a commercial or a residential dispute, requiring specialist knowledge and experience to tackle. Rounding out the run of episodes focusing on neighbourly matters, we hear from Dr Peter Defoe and Andrew Thompson about the several factors that contribute to rights of light issues, how to mitigate these issues be...

In this episode of the Modus podcast Building the Future, we've brought together two rising stars based in San Francisco and New York to discuss the issues affecting their work in the built environment.  Ali Sims AssocRICS and Julia Chesher MRICS discuss the varied career paths available to those in the built environment, the value to your clients of being chartered, and the important of a st...