Richard Pilsworth, managing partner, Bidwells Building Consultancy (building surveyor)

My most memorable project is…

Knocking down a private client’s large country house to rebuild an even better one. It was a very satisfying project from start to finish. As the project leader and client partner I spent several evenings with the client scribbling down design ideas over a glass of wine – later to be turned into reality by my team.

My greatest achievement is…

Expanding the business from about 15 building surveyors to a mixture of 70 construction professionals including project managers, architects and structural engineers. It’s been great to have led my team all the way through, acquiring new people and teams of small consultants along the way.

When I first started out in the industry I wish I’d known…

How to manage people. For a chartered building surveyor 50 per cent of the job is managing people and, although I developed the necessary skills as I moved up the career ladder, I wish I had been given more management training earlier on.

Surveyors must be…

Understanding of clients’ needs. You have to quickly get to grips with what your client really wants and use your expertise to help them achieve it.

I’d like candidates to take more notice of…

Attention to detail. It’s often a good idea to take a step back and look at things from a different perspective.

Richard Pilsworth is the managing partner of Bidwells Building Consultancy.