I graduated from Portsmouth in 1978 with a BSc in Civil Engineering (With Commendation), and qualified as a Chartered Civil Engineer in 1983.

For fifteen years after graduation I worked for a number of highway authorities around the UK, designing or supervising the construction of projects varying from industrial estates to by-passes, from car-parking for a mediaeval town centre to the improvement of forest roads, and a wide variety of other projects in-between and beyond.

In 1993, ready for a fresh challenge, I took up a position as specialist highway design engineer with a German civil engineering consultant based in Würzburg, Bavaria, moving there with the family. During two years of very intensive work on major German re-unification projects, I became very thoroughly acquainted with German highway design standards and engineering practice. I also acquired fluency in the language (conversational and technical) and a familiarity with business practices too. In 1995 I started to work freelance, working for clients throughout Germany, in the Benelux countries and, after finally returning to the UK in 1998, here too.

After following other interests for a while, I returned to civil engineering full-time in 1999, working first as a landfill engineer, then for a major UK consultant as highway design engineer. Inevitably, I soon found myself cast as highway geometry and layout specialist, finding particular success with junctions that others had more or less given up on - especially roundabouts and non-standard interchanges.

On relocating to the Isle of South Uist in 2002 I returned to self-employment. A programme of investment in resources and skills has allowed me to provide a wider range of service very effectively (but also cost-effectively) directly from my home office, or at my client’s project design office, as appropriate.

Since late 2009, I joined Mouchel plc at Welwyn Garden City, working on major highways projects of Hertfordshire County Council and other local authorities. Although this takes up most of my working time, I continue to be available for small-scale projects in the Outer Hebrides. 

Whilst providing the services of a specialist, my interest in civil engineering remains wide-ranging. That we are given the opportunity - and the responsibility - to use our skills in the betterment of our world is to me a ‘given’ - a cornerstone of my professional practice. Understanding the wider context of the projects on which I am engaged - no matter how small my contribution to a project - provides the vision required to deliver solutions that are genuinely optimal, - a creative balance between a multitude of - and often conflicting - concerns.