Senior Quantity Surveyor
oliver@circledevelopment.co.uk
What expertise and background do you bring to the table?
I began my career as an estimator for a regional main contractor in Derbyshire while pursuing my Master’s in Quantity Surveying. Upon completing my course, I relocated to London and joined a Tier 1 Main contractor, focusing on residential, commercial, and healthcare sectors. With Circle, I’ve worked on new build residential, co-living, and office projects in the capacity of a Senior Quantity Surveyor and Employer’s Agent.
Can you outline the responsibilities of your role?
As a Senior Quantity Surveyor, I combine technical and soft skills to provide commercial services to my clients. My role is diverse, covering both pre and post-contract duties. Pre-contract, I prepare cost estimates for projects, monitor design progression, handle procurement, and negotiate build contracts. The cost estimates can be produced from feasibility stage to Stage 4 design. Post-contract, I manage the client’s commercial interests and administer contracts on live projects, acting as the Employer’s Agent. This work includes monitoring changes to the contract, negotiating costs, tracking progress on-site, and conducting monthly valuations of work. I also manage a team of QS’s and Assistant QS’s, overseeing their workload and monitoring their performance against their targets. This also includes tracking and reviewing their process on the APC pathway to chartership.
Describe your experiences and growth at Circle?
I joined Circle in September 2023 as a Quantity Surveyor. The company gave me responsibility from day one, where I began a negotiated tender of a c.£50m Co-Living scheme in White City. I also acted as the Quantity Surveyor for a significant Build-to-Rent residential scheme in Maidenhead. Since then, the scheme in Maidenhead has reached practical completion and the co-living scheme in White City is now underway and out of the ground allowing me to take on two more tenders as well as acting as a Fund Monitor on some single-family home schemes. I now manage a Quantity Surveyor and two Assistant Quantity Surveyors, having been promoted to Senior Quantity Surveyor. In 2024, I also achieved chartered status with the RICS with thanks to Circle who we’re incredibly supportive throughout the process.
What is your favourite project?
My favourite project is Wood Lane. The £49m scheme involves the construction of a 16-storey tower with two 6-storey wings. The 16-storey tower will house 209 co-living units with the ground floor, level 7 and level 16 offering communal amenity spaces for residents including masterchef-style kitchens, a gym, working spaces and lounges. The 6-storey wings are being built for a woman’s charity that will have 60 apartments for patrons and a new office for the company. The project involves some technical groundworks due to the elevations on the site along with the added complexities of working alongside the London Underground Central Line and a busy TfL highway. It’s exciting to see the project come out the ground, with the basement and concrete frame commencing at the end of 2024.
What brings you joy outside of work?
Outside of work, I stay active by going to the gym a few times a week and occasionally returning to Derbyshire for long walks in the Peak District. I make the most of my annual leave by traveling, most recently visiting old university friends in Jordan and experiencing one of the seven wonders of the world. I’m an avid skier, having done a season when I was younger. I also enjoy festivals (attended Glastonbury six times), playing golf and tennis, and have recently taken up cycling.
