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The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has appointed its new interim leadership team to drive the further modernisation of the Institution.
RICS Governing Council has made the appointments for a period of up to 12 months to lead the institution in delivering necessary reforms, following Alison Levitt QC’s report. The team’s focus will be to work with Governing Council, members and staff to rebuild trust in the Institution through the implementation of the Levitt review recommendations.
The team will work with Governing Council, which is comprised of elected members of the profession, to commission the review of governance, purpose and strategy, consider its findings and begin to implement the review’s recommendations.
Nicholas Maclean, RD, FRICS, has been appointed interim Chair of Governing Council.
Maclean is the Chairman & Managing Director of CBRE, Middle East Region, which he established in 2005. He served as the Chairman of the RICS MENA Advisory Panel until December 2019 and is a member of the Institute of Revenue, Rating & Valuations and the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House). He serves as the Scottish Government’s Trade Envoy to the United Arab Emirates. He has been an elected member of Governing Council since 2020.
Maclean commented: “I am honoured to have been given the responsibility of continuing to lead Governing Council at this important time in the Institution’s history. We are moving quickly and decisively to take the actions we promised after the publication of Alison Levitt QC’s review and the elected members of Governing Council have used their authority to ensure continuity of leadership while the forthcoming external review takes place.
“This is a generational opportunity for RICS to modernise and to ensure that we remain relevant to our members, the public and the industry and deliver value to all our stakeholders. We are committed to collaborating more closely with members and firms to deliver positive outcomes in the public interest.”
Richard Collins, who joined RICS in 2019 as Executive Director of the Profession, has been appointed interim CEO.
Collins led the creation of a new function at the Institution bringing together responsibility for all aspects of its public interest regulation, including entry to the profession, standards, assurance and compliance. This included the establishment of a new independently led public interest regulatory Board, now chaired by Dame Janet Paraskeva. His previous career in the justice sector and in regulation included roles at the Lord Chancellor’s Department, Law Society, Legal Services Commission and Solicitors Regulation Authority. He was awarded an OBE in 2009 for services to the administration of justice.
Collins said: “RICS members make critically important contributions to the economic life of every country in which they practise; they advise and support businesses and consumers; create wealth and address the real problems people encounter in their daily lives. They do this with skill and expertise, with professionalism and with innovation and commitment. They, and the members yet to join RICS, have a critical role to play in meeting the current and future challenges facing the natural and built environment.
“Every one of these members deserves an Institution in which they can have pride, which listens to them, which supports them and which, with their consent, sets and enforces standards in the public interest, which are relevant and a badge of high quality for markets and consumers across the globe.
“I am looking forward to working with members, Council and the Institution’s talented and committed people to put the Institution back where it should be: an example of the best that a professional body can be. I am grateful to Governing Council for the opportunity to work with it to meet this challenge, and to deliver the fundamental changes needed.”
Isobel O’Regan, FRICS, an elected member of Governing Council, has been appointed interim Chair of the Management Board.
O’Regan is a Director at Savills, based in Ireland, and has practised for over 30 years, working across a range of sectors in Dublin and Cork including asset management, commercial lettings and sales, professional services incorporating loan security reviews and compulsory acquisition work. She has also provided expert witness evidence in formal planning enquiries and rent review arbitrations. In recent years, Isobel has focused on the investment market.
O’Regan said: “I am committed to working with the Management Board and the Executive team to rebuild a robust, fit for purpose Institution for members based on the values outlined by Governing Council.”
Governing Council will also shortly announce the external appointment of a new Chair of the Audit Committee, which is currently being ratified. The committee Chair can serve for up to six years.
