Allied Surveyors Scotland Annual Conference 2025

Colleagues from across Allied Surveyors Scotland’s network of 30 offices came together at Cumbernauld’s Westerwood Hotel for our annual conference on Friday 21st November.

It was a great opportunity for more than 80 surveyors, from residential, commercial and building surveying, to catch up, share experiences and explore some of the key issues facing our industry.

Our Director of Operations, Kevin Keane FRICS, opened the day by welcoming everyone, outlining the programme and introducing our first speakers.

We heard from David Gibb of property management experts Dwello, who spoke about the challenges currently affecting the residential rental market, followed by Paul Hughes MRICS, director at GlenEtive Projects, who shared his perspective on delivering homes for Scotland.

Regular conference contributor Robert Toomey, senior public affairs officer at RICS, then rounded off the morning with a wide-ranging update on matters impacting the surveying profession.

For the first time, our commercial agents and valuers, based in the hotel’s Kilsyth Suite, enjoyed their own tailored programme.

William Bell of EPC Associates talked through the latest changes to Energy Performance Certificate legislation, before Charles Golding, senior specialist at RICS, completed the morning with a comprehensive session on Sustainability and ESG in Commercial Valuation.

While the conference delivers important CPD, it’s also about investing in our people – giving colleagues the confidence, knowledge and tools to continue moving the business forward together.

The afternoon programme for our residential colleagues was led by Kevin Keane FRICS, who focused on quality assurance, technical standards and how we can make the most of technology in our day-to-day practice.

Alongside this, Alan Clark from The Power Within Training delivered an engaging and interactive session on leadership and motivational intelligence, encouraging colleagues to think differently about how they approach challenges and opportunities.

Meanwhile, the commercial team heard from Rightmove plc client account manager, Simon Byers, who shared insights on website traffic, brand awareness and highlighted Allied’s strong performance in the commercial agency market.

To close the day, MBM Commercial’s head of real estate, Alison Scott, and director, Lianne McPherson, updated colleagues on recent developments in Scottish commercial leasing.

In the evening, colleagues rounded off the event with a fast-paced Game Show experience hosted by external events specialists, Team Challenge Company. The mix of friendly competition, teamwork and plenty of laughs provided the perfect way to relax after a full day of learning and was a great way to bring everyone together before heading home.

“This was a packed conference full of valuable insight and information for our residential and commercial surveyors,” commented Kevin Keane FRICS.

“The strength of our business lies with the people within it, so it was great to have all of our surveyors together to listen and learn from such a diverse range of speakers.”

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