New RICS president takes office, focuses on the future

• Chris Brooke will focus on three key areas — promoting the work of surveyors, making sure our
  profession is prepared for the future, and speaking out on the big issues
  of our time.�

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 27 September 2018 – Chris Brooke FRICS has
today officially been inaugurated as RICS
(Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) President at a ceremony in Hong
Kong, beginning his term for the 2018-2019 year.

 

Mr. Brooke is a chartered surveyor and
co-founder of Brooke Husband Limited, a property consulting firm based in Hong
Kong. He succeeds John Hughes, who led RICS throughout its 150^th
anniversary year.

 

Commenting, new RICS President Chris Brooke
says:

“I am very proud to call myself a chartered
surveyor as well as to be a member of RICS, and therefore the opportunity to
serve as President is a great honour and privilege. This is an incredibly
exciting time to be a member of our profession, with the world growing and
changing so rapidly. Professionals operating within the natural and built
environments are at the heart of some of the great challenges of our time,
including urbanisation, climate change, and technological development.

 

“The surveying profession and RICS as our
global professional body both have a critical role to play in tackling these
issues. By setting and enforcing standards that give confidence to markets and
by putting people at the heart of what we do, we will have a positive impact on
the future direction of all the regions of the world in which RICS operates.

 

“We are currently one of the most trusted
professions in the world, but that does not mean this will always be the case.
With the world changing in so many ways it is critical that we never rest on
our laurels.

 

“That is why I will be focusing on three key
areas during my term — promoting and highlighting the value of the work
undertaken by surveyors, making sure our profession is prepared for the future,
and speaking out on the big issues of our time. Members of RICS have been
shaping the world for 150 years. The opportunities which lie ahead are immense,
and I am confident that we can and will embrace them.”

 

During his presidential year Mr. Brooke will be
supported by President-Elect Tim Neal FRICS and Senior Vice President Kath
Fontana FRICS.

Mr. Brooke was born in the United Kingdom and
moved to Hong Kong with his parents in 1979 and spent 2002–2013 working in
Beijing. He is married to Christine and has two teenage children.

 

Notes to Editors

 

1.    RICS promotes and enforces the highest
professional qualifications and standards in the valuation, development and
management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure. Our name
promises the consistent delivery of standards — bringing confidence to markets
and effecting positive change in the built and natural environments.

 

2.    FRICS is an abbreviation for Fellow of the
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and is the highest level of
qualification offered by RICS. It is an honoured class of membership awarded on the basis of individual
achievement within the profession. More information on RICS qualifications is available at rics.org/qualifications

 

3.   
The
new presidential team:

Mr Chris Brooke FRICS —
RICS President

 

Chris is the Co-Founder
of Brooke Husband Ltd, a consulting firm based in Hong Kong, which provides
strategic market insight, development consulting and investment advisory services
to real estate owners, developers and investors throughout the Asia Pacific
region.

 

Prior to becoming
President of RICS, Chris was the Chair of RICS Asia Pacific World Regional
Board, a member of RICS Governing Council, and has served as Interim Secretary
to the Profession for the past year.

 

During his year as RICS
President, Chris will be leading the ongoing efforts of RICS to adapt both the
organisation and the profession to reflect the continuously changing business
environment. This is so both can succeed in meeting the challenges posed to the
built and natural environment by rapid urbanisation, climate change,
digitalisation, evolving business models and new consumer habits.

 

Chris was born in the
United Kingdom and moved to Hong Kong with his parents in 1979. He has lived in
Hong Kong since that time, with the exception of the period between 2002 and
2013, when he was based in Beijing. He is married to Christine and has two
teenage children, Abi and Alex.

Tim Neal FRICS – RICS President-Elect

Tim is
the President and CEO of CallisonRTKL, Arcadis’ global architecture and design
practice.

Previously
the Global Director of Buildings at Arcadis and the head of UK and European
Regions at EC Harris, Tim is an internationally recognised leader with more
than three decades of experience in the buildings market, large-firm operations
and talent management.

Tim is a Board Trustee and
Secretary of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, a Fellow of RICS
and until November 2017 was a member of their Global Regulatory Board.

 

Kath
Fontana FRICS — RICS Senior Vice President

 

Kath
is a Chartered Facilities Management
Surveyor
with over 25 years’ experience of delivering Facilities and Asset Management
solutions working for blue chip companies such as Serco, Aspire Defence
Services, Interserve and BAM Construct UK. 
She is currently Managing Director of ISS Technical Services.

 

She
has extensive experience of managing complex programmes and service delivery at
senior level across UK and within multiple industry sectors, including defence,
local and central government, financial and professional services.  She is passionate about diversity, property
technology and cross discipline collaboration in the built environment.

 

Kath is Chair of the RICS Professional
Group Board for Facilities Management, a member of the RICS Management Board
and has recently been appointed as Senior Vice President Elect for RICS.  She is a regular speaker at industry events
and a guest lecturer at Middlesex University.