RICS appoints interim leadership team

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has appointed an interim leadership team, with Richard Collins named as interim chief executive. Collins (pictured) joined RICS in 2019 as executive director of the profession. Isobel O’Regan, a Savills director and a member of RICS’s governing council, has been named as interim chair of the management board. She is based in Ireland. The duo join interim chair of governing council Nicholas Maclean, who has been formally appointed to the role, in the senior team. The appointments will be held for a period of up to 12 months to deliver major reforms, following Alison Levitt QC’s report into a governance row at the organisation. Recruitment agency Gatenby Sanderson has also published an open advertisement for an external reviewer to lead a review into the organisation’s governance and purpose, in what it said was an “attractively remunerated position”. Governing council is aiming to appoint a reviewer to the role next month. The review seeks to: create clarity on RICS’s purpose; make proposals for the future that will put it in a position to stand as a “beacon for best practice” in governance, transparency and accountability; and ensure that its strategy, governance structures, culture and resources are structured with the scope for them to be reviewed and refreshed in future. RICS is additionally in the process of hiring a new chair of the audit committee. Maclean said: “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.” 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.” 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.” To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@eg.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @EGPropertyNews See also: RICS apologises and drops Fieldfisher as legal adviser Photo © RICS