MAKING THE MOST OF RETIREMENT
AS THE SCSI ANNOUNCES PLANS TO ESTABLISH A RETIRED AND RETIRING SURVEYORS GROUP IN 2022, THE SURVEYORS JOURNAL SPOKE TO MICHAEL WEBB, RETIRED QUANTITY SURVEYOR AND FORMER SCS CHAIRMAN, ON HIS CAREER, AND LIFE AFTER RETIREMENT.
M
ichael Webb joined the quantity surveying firm of Patterson and Kempster straight
He says he’s seen the profession of quantity
from school in 1959: “You learned by doing rather than by academic study”. He obtained
surveying change significantly too, not just in the
his qualifications as a Chartered Quantity Surveyor while working, attending lectures
fact that most entrants now come into the
in Bolton St, and completing work by correspondence course, before sitting the RICS
profession via a degree course: “I think the
examinations. He stayed with Patterson and Kempster for the entirety of his career,
profession developed enormously. It was very
rising to partner, then CEO, and finally Chairman. He saw the firm change many times over the years
much historically just measuring, but it emerged
too: “It's the oldest quantity surveying firm in Ireland, and we celebrated our centenary some years ago.
very much from that. I had always believed that
It evolved into Patterson, Kempster and Shortall (PKS), and we linked up with British firm Davis Langdon.
the architect should be leader of the design team,
Nowadays it's called AECOM. It's gone through a number of changes”.
but the architects were more interested in design
INTERVIEW Ann-Marie Hardiman Managing Editor, Think Media Ltd
22 22
SURVEYORS JOURNAL Volume 11, Issue 4, Winter 2021
