A World Gone Mad?

There is no wrong answer to this question - which comes first Business or Britain? (Sorry to Northern Ireland you are included but Britain sounded better in this instance!).

Over the past few weeks I have seen numerous posts showing companies doing all they can to maintain their business activities but with a difference. Adjusting their SOP's (Site Operating Procedures) to include Hand Sanitisers at all entrances, 2m personal working zones, scaling down operations where possible but maintaining a workable site, offset shift patterns....these are all laudable activities and fit nicely into the Government advice that the construction sector should continue where possible...of course there is an underlying moral issue of whilst we could you have to ask if we should.

Amending SOP's is great within that site bubble, but companies do also need to consider the wider picture, of which I have seen scant little of.

Bigger picture

Whilst a site might be isolated, and social distancing can be easily achieved, there is more to consider:-


1.  The site might be isolated but the journey to and from won't be. On that journey they might (for example) breakdown, need fuel, or have an accident. Automatically isolation has gone and social distancing is more of a concern.

     1a: If they breakdown someone has to go and recover them - so it's not just one person taking a risk now it is a second, and all the people that person interacts with.

     1b: If they need fuel that means going to a busier location, and touching metal surfaces which are likely to be have been touched by hundreds/thousands of people over the past few weeks. Yet another point of risk.

1c: God forbid they have an accident but that is likely to involve recovery, police and an ambulance. You can see this snowballing already...

2.  Once you're at site it is virtually impossible to spend the day not touching anything, and who knows whom might have contact with any of the surfaces in the past few days/weeks. Yes, a construction site is generally enclosed but as Surveyors we often arrive before the construction site to land open to the public. Whilst protection can be provided it will have its limitations, and will rely on everyone doing their bit. However, we are there, on a remote isolated site. What could possibly go wrong?   -Well,  our risk assessment does include death & broken limbs, so worst case scenario that happens and you have to call in help - putting more people at risk, and adding to the burden of the NHS, would you want to make that choice? Treat those who have fallen ill through no fault of their own or the worker who went to site and has an accident?

3. Your site has been very prudent in the hand washing and sanitising, then I go onto to site with all my equipment.....In error that hasn't been sanitised since my last job because upon getting home I had to go straight out for the weekly shop, and drop a prescription off for an elderly neighbour! Someone moves the survey pole to a safer location, or carries some of the kit...….infection is spreading!

4.  Survey complete - see point 1 on the return home!

5.   Do you self isolate for the a fortnight now, or will you have to go out shopping at some point, or collect a prescription?

It isn't just Surveyors doing this, I have seen ads for Architects suggesting now is the time to build the swimming pool or outside office you have always wanted and are now in need of....  How exactly is this essential and do they not know that to achieve these ideas numerous people will have to visit the properties to map, design, approve, and build?!  A hashtag doing the rounds seems like a pretty good one in these circumstances #covidiots.

There is a clear duty of care, and 90% of our clients have accepted our decision and are willing to wait. R L Surveys are no longer undertaking site works - any existing jobs which have been postponed will be given priority once lockdown protocols are eased or rescinded, all other jobs are being ask to take a number and will be completed in the order instructions are received (13 and counting!!). At least our staff have the piece of mind that once we are through to the other side (what ever it may look like) the work will be there...and to be honest they are going to need to be well rested given the amount of work we have ready to start!

If your company are promoting your safe working systems - highlighting that your staff have all started to work from home - please respect & SUPPORT those people who work on site, and don't ask us to do something your own company is not willing to ask you to do - take the risk.

#StaySafe #Protectthenhs #Savelives

We've All Done It - haven't we??

I'm pretty sure it is safe to say we have all hard our fair share of 'problems on site', and since the last millennium I've had a few but I'm big enough (and old enough) to share a few with you without fear of (too much) embarrassment and retribution. **This is not a how to do guide, or best practise guide.  In fact quite the opposite is true!**

Surveying Problems (mostly mine but there are a few I was only indirectly involved with)

1) Arriving on site without the instrument, the cardinal sin for a Surveyor.  This was on the one occasion my Assistant had told me that the batteries were on charge so could I grab the kit before I left the office....did you spot mistake number one?  Asking me to remember something when I was plotting the fastest route from my office desk to the car!!  Well as I'm sure you have guessed the instrument remained in the office while we set off early the next day to North London.  Imagine the dismay when we arrived on site and opened the boot!  As luck would have it we didn't waste the trip as there were a few jobs to be done which didn't involve the instrument - but the phone call back to the office was not pretty!! And I'm fairly sure the return visit which had not been priced for did not go down well!

2) Next day (oh yes it gets worse!) tasked with returning to North London via a small site in South London.  Kit all loaded, checked, and checked again.  We headed off to the first site, nice and smooth finished quickly and efficiently.  Packed up 'most' of the kit and went on to North London to complete yesterdays work....slight problem, this was in the days when the data was recorded on an external logger and not on board.  It seems my Assistant (not me this time!) had left the logger on a wall in South London with all of the mornings work!!  Calling the office was not an option (I fear a P45 would have been the result!), so we duly set about hand booking all of the observations over the next few hours (did I mention it was a high precision monitoring job?).  Job done, so back to the first site as the eternal optimist, and this was pre phone or fleet tracking so no one would know what happened.  Luck was back with us, the logger was still sitting on the wall where it had been left!!  Over the course of the next hour we took a very slow drive back to the office as the my Assistant hand typed all of the data from the note book into the logger..... got to the office downloaded and everything was right in the world again.  It could have been soo  much worse, and until now the then boss never found out!  (If you are reading sorry - it was only once and I'm sure it made me a better Surveyor in the long run).

3) Make sure you close the boot of the car!!  Car packed and ready to go, the Senior Surveyor backs out of the parking spot and slowly pulls away.  We reach a road junction and he decides to drop the clutch and speed away....the resulting forward motion shifted the equipment against the boot door which in fact hadn't latched shut.  Open springs the boot and off goes the instrument down the road!!  It's a testament to the instrument and the box, no damage done to box or instrument when we checked it and it's calibration before starting work the next day.  They don't make them like they used to!

4) Surveying 101, always attach the tribrach to the tripod before turning away.  In the days of vertical plummets it was fairly standard to separate the tribrach from the instrument while setting up.  You centre and level the tribrach before putting the instrument on top to start work.  So tripod set, tribrach levelled and centred.  You turn around to get the instrument and lose your balance slightly.  The only thing close by to grab for balance is the tripod, normally not a problem just a pain having to set up again.  On this occasion I had management level and centre without actually screwing the tribrach back on, so said tribrach slides off the tripod, clips the legs and...…..oh did I mention I was working on an oil jetty half a mile out at sea...….falls off the jetty into the sea!!  The boss was not amused when I start my recount of this incident with....funny story but.....

5) Health & Safety - you are joking.  Before the days of fixed 360 prisms, we had circular prisms sitting in a plastic housing (often wedged with paper to stop them spinning).  Carrying out the survey you are constantly checking the prism is pointing the right direction and hasn't twisted in the mount to look downwards.  On this particular day I was in a dry suit surveying a structure on a tidal river (yes the dry suit was the health & safety), this involved a large amount of clambering and climbing on a wooden structure which, being in a tidal estuary, was prone to slippery patches.  I had circumnavigated this structure (and others) during the day without any problems.  Last few points and we were done home and dry, carefully placed my foot onto a cross beam and as I shifted my weight I slipped, reaching out I grabbed a support, clattering the detail pole against the structure in the process.  Quietly smug that I'd styled out the slip I carried on across to the next point, set the base of the pole, checked the level, and them the......oh shit where was the prisim…...during my antics the clattering of the pole had knocked the prism out of it's plastic holder into the flowing river below...RIP.

6) Seen one field, seen them all.  A lovely survey on a warm sunny day.  Knocked off the work in a morning, headed back to the office, processed the data, and handed it over for checking.  Next day the boss commended me on an excellent survey, but asked why I had surveyed the field on the opposite side of the road to the site - much to his amusement!!

7) It is important for the Surveyor to keep his assistant in their place, so when the opportunity for a wind up occurs it is too good to miss.  Arrive at the office as usual, the Assistant loads the equipment for the day, while the Surveyor gets the job file (makes his coffee) and a quick briefing if needed.  On this day I made a quick pre site comfort stop before going out to the car.  My Assistant told me he was ready to go, and went out to the car, so I nipped to the little boys room, and on my way out noticed my batteries were still on charge in the office...….so safely stashed in my pocket off we went.  Reached site and had a quick look around, before I knocked in the first nail and ask the Assistant to set up the instrument and get ready to start while I installed a few more stations.  Usually only a quick job, but on this occasion milked it a little longer than needed before returning to the station to find an Assistant (only his second day) looking very worried with half my boot out on the floor.  A little sheepishly he admitted he'd forgotten the batteries, and would need to phone someone to get them brought out.  Well why leave it their I told him the only person at the office was the boss, so he could call him and ask him (colour disappearing from his face fast)....or use the batteries still stashed safely in my pocket.   A tough life lesson but he never did it again.

8) Another fine mess - again messing about on the river happily working our way down the river mapping sections with two poles and a  prism while the Surveyor stayed dry on land with the instrument and fourth assistant.  Seemed to be going far to smoothly, and it turns out it was our progress had been rapid and efficient.  It turns out the progress was in somewhat assisted by the tide which was really starting to show it's effects as we reached the end of the survey area.  Job done though time to paddle home....or not as the case was.  Regardless of how hard we paddled we were still going the wrong way, and not one person and thought to bring a rope!!!  After half and hour or nothing we decided Plan B was the only solution, and I don't know if you have every tried it but pulling an inflatable against the tide using the thick reeds and your bare hands is neither fun or rewarding.  On the plus side we never made the same mistake again...we got someone else to do the boat work!!

9) Setting your alarm when working a spilt night/day week is a must, and these days with Alexa (others types do exist) an easy task!  Well it turns out the only thing better than Alexa is a phone call from your boss at 10am the next morning asking if I had planned to work today is very effective - it did mean I missed all of the morning traffic, and thankful it seems this was a very regular thing for people just into the night/day system.  Mistake made, embarrassment done, time to move on.

10) Spray paint is a necessary evil.  It might look unsightly but for a Surveyor it is a god send, and you only realise how much when you forget one day, hammer a peg into the ground for your next station, walk back to the instrument to finish up.  Then you lift the instrument and turn to walk to that peg you'd just put in, that timber coloured peg flash with the light brown dirt on the ground.....I never did find the station and had to reset on the previous station and put in a new peg!  Lesson learnt always mark your stations somehow.

11) As every good Surveyor knows it is important to get a good feel for the site, how you are going to approach certain elements, where the difficulties might be, how to positions your stations and close your traverses.  On the way to site it is in the back of your mind, but as you get closer to start looking out for possible benchmarks (yes pre GPS), parking places, the site.  Then once at the site you are looking at everything.  One important lesson I was taught (whilst in the passenger seat) is whilst the site is important hitting the bollard as you drive into the car park is a definite no no....on the plus side it was one less thing to survey.

12) We've all been there, right?  Tracing a drainage system through an oily rail depot, lifting ever cover you see to follow the route of that all important surface of foul run.  Gone through the first ten covers of the run no problems managed with the resonance (or hitting a hammer on the previous cover) and buckets of water.  We then ground to a halt, every possible route we could hear the hammer echoing and see water flowing...time to crack open the tracing dye.  Non toxic but bright green, what could possibly go wrong.  Add a small amount to the water and pour away, sounds simple.  Ten buckets later and still nothing!!!  We were literally pulling our hair out....nothing else for it, had to be lunch.  Cleaned up, grabbed our lunch and wander up the embankment to sit in the sun overlooking to beautiful bright green river....oh yes we had found the final exit point for all of that green dye slowly turning a Welsh river green!!

I'm sure over time I will come back to this little number, and add others as I remember them (or they happen!)

Authors of Our Own Downfall

You know we're sitting on four million pounds of fuel, one nuclear weapon and a thing that has 270,000 moving parts built by the lowest bidder. Makes you feel good, doesn't it? - Armaggedon 1998

OK not quite the same scenario, but the meaning can equally be applied to Land Surveyors, it is a race to the bottom in terms of price to win the work regardless of what we are told or advised.

You buy that fancy new piece of kit which the salesman has told you will save a day and a half on a two day job.  So based on standard surveys and 1000 points a day a survey that would have taken 4-5 days, instead takes 1-2 days.  Big difference in price, and the quandry.  Price at 1-2 days win the work but don't get the real benefit of the kit, price at 4-5 days to get the cost benefit of the new kit but risk losing the work.  Either way the office time remains constant.  It is a problem faced by all survey firms at one time or another, and whilst we'd all like to say we held firm on price and pocketed the time saving it never  happens because there is alwaus someone willing to slash their prices to win the work...the race to the bottom.  If all survey firms toe the same party line and reap the benefits of a fast survey time then everything is fine but in an increasingly competive industry you'll never get everyone on the same page.  So to coin a phrase - 'the choice is yours'.

This keep it cheap or lose the work mentality is now leading to great industry wide problems.  The demand for Surveyors is increasing, but firms cannot pay their Surveyors more because the price squeeze from a competitive market means the cuts have to be made somewhere.  The resulting cost saving often comes at the expense of staff training or pay rises.   Eventually we will be doing jobs at cost, with no room for error just in an effort to win the work and stay afloat.....

Now fast forward ten years, you have a little more grey hair and a lot more wrinkles after battling to stay in the industry, whilst maintaining a solid work/life balance, and ensuring the standards you've set yourself haven't dropped.  How has the industry changed?  There are a few more 'independent' survey firms out there along with a usual number of high profile names, and a wide selection in the medium size companies each within their own little bubble.  The big difference is the age of the Surveyors, the industry is evolving, technology is changing, but the people in that industry are just ten years older, the pool of new talent coming in is slowly evaporating as people look to more lucrative careers in other areas within the sector, or in a totally different sector, or a completely different country .  Our talent pool has been supplemented with skilled overseas (mainly European) workers who are more than able to take on the work and succeed.

Wham (no not the group) Brexit happens, does this mean the European talent pool will soon be harder to access, and that slowly evaporating home grown talent pool has got even smaller?  What will it all mean - answers on a postcard to 10 Downing Street!?

For those of us in the industry on the wrong side of 40 it probably won't be an issue, but you might see your fees go up as the demand for Surveyors far out strips the available supply...happy days.  The knock on effect of this supply/demand issue is higher fees, therefore higher salaries, thus that evaporating talent pool will start to fill up again as Land Surveying looks to be better financial proposition.....and the cycle starts all over again!!!

Ride out the strom, good times are coming faster than you might think.

Vague ramblings of a distracted Surveyor!

Odds & Sods - the ideas which haven't (or haven't yet) evolved into blogs!


The Law of Diminshing Returns - Many months ago I started a list of possible blog subjects, and this was one of them.  Unfortunately I have no idea what this might have meant.  Clearly a moment of clarity, or inspiration, whilst waiting from my daughter to come out of ballet listening to the inane chatting of mothers waiting for their daughters.  However on Friday I was back sitting in the cloakroom listening to the chatter when inspiration hit again..... The law of diminishing returns - at what point will the level of detail you are providing out weigh the time spent in obtaining that information.  Case in point, we spent hours breaking out way into this site, and gained the grand total of 15 points - was it really worth it?  The client seemed impressed so I guess it was worth it, but in hindsight a level top and bottom would have given the same result - but you never know what you might find buried in undergrowth.


All in a name - having spent an excessive amount of time on construction sites over the years you hear a wide variety of terms to connect to different industries.  Carpenters generally respond to Chippie, Electricians are Sparkies, Bricklayers are the Brickies, Plasterers are Spreads.  Now I'm stumped any ideas for Plumbers, Engineers or Surveyors??  Try and kept it polite.


Then & Now - When I first started in this career a mobile phone was something the MD had but no one else could get close to, life was so much quieter and days were more productive.  Now everyone has a mobile phone, and are willing to use it far to easily.  I may be getting old but there was a time when you have to solve your own problems on site, now the first step is to phone the office!.....this might turn into a full on moaning blog one day about changes in the industry since my first day!  This idea only came as a result of a day in Petham (Canterbury) which appears to be a mobile phone black spot or heaven.

Surveyors Claim to Fame - Surely there must be more references to Surveyors in popular culture through the music, movies, TV & books.  I can think of only a few, and some of those are only passing moments:-

1. The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill (Hugh Grant) - OK they were Cartographers but lets not split hairs here!  Haven't seem it myself though, but perhaps I should have!
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Harrison Ford) - There was even an earlier theodolite in the hands of Indiana Jones, but again not a Surveyor.
3. Seven Years in Tibet (Brad Pitt) - Again that early theodolite was out again
4. The English Patient (Ralph Finnes)
5. Far & Away (Tom Cruise) - land prospecting in America
6. The Great Escape (Nigel Stock) - Wouldn't have got far in that tunnel without one!
7. The X-Files (David Duchovney) - Vague recollections of an episode from my youth, ok very vague!

I'm sure there are more films, but perhaps people could enlighten me!

Please stay in touch with R L Surveys though the wonders of social media at Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  Alternatively we are always at the end of the phone line on 01233 800109.

Visiting the Wierd & Wonderful

Surveying is a very unique career in terms of the places you end up visiting & Surveying, so below is a list of some of the more unusual/unique places I've been, can you suggest anymore;

Sorry to the assistant on this one!

1) Port Lympne Zoo inside the Lion enclosure (they'd moved the Lions into their smaller side pen).  Still kept me on edge during the work just in case!  As you can see they still showed a lot of interest so the pogo remained at arms length - it is only wire after all!!!

2) Port Lympne Zoo inside the Rhino enclosure.


3) Central wicket at The Oval - setting out the boundary, a little add on to the main survey of the site.  How could we say no to that little request outside of the original spec for the work.


4) Aldwych Station (at night with failing torch!), now a disused station used for training everyone one from Surveyors with a new track trolley to the police armed response units, and some big budget films (I believe 007 in Die Another Day (although not 100%), and Sliding Doors).  It was under the guise of work, wandering off the end of the platforms to try out the then new Leica track trolley.

5) Roof Walk at Lincoln Cathedral, as a little bonus due to the work done for the on going spire monitoring.

6) Chelsea FC Training ground - yes those specs in the distance were the first team, and that is all they ever become just random people in the distance despite the hope of a misplaced football needing returning!!  - OK the picture is not of the training ground, but I was working close to the main stadium recently so this pic will have to do.

7) Camden Town Coroners Office - what was in the black bag?

8) Charing Crematorium - with behind the scenes tour, which was surprisingly interesting even if a little morbid.

There are many other locations I have been that most people in the general public don't have access to such as wandering down the runways of Heathrow & Stansted airports in the middle of the night (I was supposed to be there), inside the Tower of London carrying out a measured building survey, or walking along the tracks at the Eurotunnel terminal at Cheriton, even walking over the arches at Dover harbour - you know the ones at the ferry on ramps right at the waters edge.  They get very windy at the top!

Everyone has their stories, and in 13 years I have accumulated a fair few across five different Survey firms.  I'm sure the bigger the company the more obscure/prestigious the jobs - do you have anywhere different work has taken you?

For more information on the services R L Surveys offer please visit our website, or follow us through the wonders of social media Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIN.

Surveyors don't forget.......

A good assistant (or even a bad one but for totally different reasons!)

Since using one man kit I have started to really appreciate the benefits of a good assistant (and been glad of the freedom from some bad ones)!!!  So here is my personal tribute to the better assistants to have been honoured to be trained by me (I use the terms honoured & trained very loosely).  These are my top five in no particular order, but as a tradition ladies first:-

Alyson (Yogurt Spiller) Bell (2001).  

One of the many work experience students who I have worked with, she spent the best part of four months working in our office being taught the 'proper' way to do things.  Not once was there a complaint, quick to learn, & eager to ask questions, perhaps a little to comfortable at the end making jokes about her Surveyor but I'll let that one slip.  Current where abouts unknown, but I'd love to find out.

Leanne (Far too short) Cochrane (2007-2012).  

A full time trainee Surveyor graduating to a fully fledged Surveyor.  Beyond her height she gave as good as she got in a very male office, eager to learn & ask questions, and generally had her mind on the job.  Currently Surveyor/Geospatial Manager(!) with Dover Harbour Board

Chris (Pretty Boy) Holley (2005-2012).

Started with the same employer within a month of each other, and left within a matter of months.  Joined the company as a raw recruit, and left a fully paid member of the Surveying fraternity, now having moved on he is fulfilling the potential he was never allowed to explore before.  Best without a safety net, and prospering as a result.  Currently Survey Manager at Bovis Homes

Matt (What did your Mum feed you) Bolton (2002).

Another work experience student, far too tall for his own good and made me appreciate the problems of being vertically challenged when taking over the instrument work!  Current career and whereabouts unknown, but I'd love to find out.

Matt (Moaning) Morgan (2005 - 2010)

Similar to Chris started around the same time, but left a little earlier to following his calling to travel & become a holiday rep.  Arguably his dream job, but as a Surveyor he could have been very good if his mind stayed on the job and didn't rise to the banter hence his inclusion.  Currently repping in Southern Spain (I think?)

This little exercise got me thinking since I started Surveying at the end of the last Millenia(!) I have counted 35 separate Survey Assistants, and that doesn't include time when I used to work in teams of two Surveyors!  Survey Assistants are the life blood of Surveying, the future we all need to support and help grow - however the advent of modern technology and the ever increasing squeeze on costs means an Assistant is a luxury many of us can't afford.  The latest robotic equipment is amazing, but it doesn't afford the time to train new staff especially for the smaller firms.  University & college courses do provide a good foundation but there is no replacement for on the job training and apprenticeship schemes for Surveyors are few and far between, and during my quick browse no such schemes existed in the South East - the search continues........





Note from Beccy:  No Mike, it is NOT acceptable to do a similar blog naming and shaming the rubbish assistants!!

Discovering East Kent

The sun wasn't out and the sky wasn't blue, but at least it wasn't raining!!  Off on a day trip with the photographer to try and gather some images of our website - the general remit to highlight the Kent countryside with a business tilt towards Surveying - and here are some of the results.

The day started badly, in attempts to reach the Wye crown we wandered off the wrong way (not a good advertisement for a Surveyor!!), and with the weather looking ominous we decided to accept the views for a few photos and move on inland towards Canterbury to try and get a few images showing the cathedral and surrounding streets - much more successful this time we found the cathedral!!  Although we did manage to get a statue operating the instrument!!?

From Canterbury we meandered across to Deal for the pier & boats along the shingle beach, and with patches of blue sky things were looking up.  A few arty shots later along the beach we moved on down to coast towards Dover and the delights of the seafront/castle via a quiet beach for the 'pensive' shots.

Dover led us on to Samphire Hoe, and then down to Rye (OK East Sussex not Kent but close enough), before coming back to Ashford.  Does anyone know of somewhere other than International House where you can get a good shot of Ashford, we tried the beacon view point on Singleton Hill, and round the back of the Village Hall in Great Chart but the trees have grown up so much you can't really get a good view.

We achieved the Downs, the Beaches, the Cathedrals, the Castles, the Windmills, the coastline, the cities, and the business centre Ashford (not THE business centre, but our business centre).

Perhaps next time we'll take a different tour covering the joys of West & North Kent, so any landmarks or suggestions would be greatly received.

More images from our day out will gradually appear through our website, and Facebook.  Your feedback on them will be gratefully received and passed on.

As always more details of the services we offer can be found at www.rlsurveys.co.uk, or you can keep in touch with us on Twitter (@RLSurveys), Facebook & LinkedIN.

What is a Surveyor?

It's almost a weekly occurrence that someone asks me to provide a structural building survey or something similar, as yet no one has asked me to value fine art but one day who knows.... So here we go a one stop guide to most of the common forms of Surveying:-

Land Surveying - Often regarded as a second oldest profession, this is a profession concerned with the measurement of land and property.  These are the guys you call in to prepare very detailed maps before design works begin, they are also heavily involved in establishing property boundaries, and very precise structural monitoring.


Quantity Surveying - is a profession working within the construction industry concerned with building costs.  Of in more vague terms counting bricks!!


Building Surveying - is a profession concerned with Building Pathology, how a building is construction and where if any faults may lie.  These are the guys you call in for a structural survey before you buy a house.


Arts & Antiques Surveyor - a profession dealing with the valuation, purchase, sale & management of antiques & fine arts


Minerals Surveyor - a profession concerned with the use, value, management & exploration of mineral deposits.


Valuation Surveyor - The profession to call to get a true valuation on your home or property.
Planning & Development Surveyor


Project Management Surveyor - Responsible for the planning, co-ordination, management and financial control of any building scheme.


Environmental Surveyor - Surveyors who use surveying techniques to understand the potential impact of environmental factors on property & construction.  And assess a similar impact of property & construction on the environment. 


Commercial Property Surveyor - A professional advising on the buying, selling & leasing of commercial properties.


There are other forms of Surveyors so feel free to chip in with other examples, or get your own faculty of Surveying on the list.  


With most forms of surveying there is the potential to have the designation 'Chartered' in front of these jobs.  The effect of this one word is to show that as a professional you have been recognised by your peers already in the Chartered Institute as a competent person in your field.


Hope that has cleared a few things up, so R L Surveys are Land and Measured Building Surveyors , More details of the services we offer, and examples of our work can be found at www.rlsurveys.co.uk, or you can keep in touch with us on LinkedIn, Facebook (www.facebook.com/rlsurveys) & Twitter (@RLSurveys).

Free Advertising

There are ways and means, and plenty of free courses out there to gain this knowledge.  With the advent of Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn (there are other social media out there!) it is easier than ever to get your news or comments out there, but it's harder to target that news to the right people.

Recently we got a small article in the local paper to announce our intent to enter a charity bike ride, it covered the bases and included our company details and what we do - the cost to us £0 except for the time taken to write the article and send it in, and as one company once said 'Every Little Helps'.

Papers love stories and articles to fill their pages.  I heard a story recently about a fruit farmer trying to hire staff for his farm to help pick the fruit - he spent a fortune on advertising and received no replies, however one call to the editor of the local paper and he was deluged with responses!  How?  The paper came over and wrote an article about the farm and how it was having problems recruiting staff - so whilst the information was out there originally, it was not being targeted in the right place. 

"There is no such thing as bad publicity" (Barnum?), or "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about" (Oscar Wilde).  I'm sure there are some notable exceptions to these ideas, but in general unless it really is something terrible (sorry to BP or Toyota) you're on to a winner.  "Everyone loves a good story - and you don't need to be an author" (Mike Holiday - 2012)

More details of the services we offer, and examples of our work can be found at www.rlsurveys.co.uk, or you can keep in touch with us on LinkedIn, Facebook (www.facebook.com/RLSurveys) & Twitter (@RLSurveys).