Mace Davies is a Chartered Building Surveyor offering expert advice on all aspects of property and construction to a wide spectrum of clients. The company was formed in 2018 and celebrated its first birthday on 31 May.
I set up the company because I saw a gap in the market for a good local chartered surveyor offering local domestic and commercial clients a high-level service.
What do you do exactly at Mace Davies and what makes you unique?
As a company we offer all aspects of building surveying services. Each area of expertise is described in detail on our web site www.macedavies.co.uk
As an individual, I’m responsible for securing new and delivering existing work, all aspects of running the company as well as marketing and invoicing.
What is the best/worst moment you can remember in your career?
The best moment was receiving the letter stating that I had passed the APC and was a member of the RICS. Waiting at home for the post to arrive was the most nerve-wracking experience of my life. The current system where the candidates receive an email 7 days later is a lot better!
I have been lucky and haven’t experienced too many lows during my career although it’s hard sitting as an APC assessor completing referral reports.
Do you use any specific method or system to run daily operations of your business?
At the moment, no. The size of the company and the type of work we do does not require the use of any specific systems. We are keeping up to date on construction and more specifically, building surveying technology to see how new systems will aid us as an organisation in the future.
How important is technology and which technologies have you adopted?
Technology is very important, and I’m amazed by its advancements. 20 years ago, the team I worked in shared pc’s and had to sign out pool mobile phones. Now I can use my phone for most aspects of my workload ranging from dictating home buyers reports to sending invoices.
The technology we use is more time management related to help us be more proactive and efficient, such as dictating site notes.
Technology is improving and we are using technology more with every instruction received. We recently instructed a drone survey to take photographs of a roof area that was not accessible by more traditional means.
Who are your major customers at Mace Davies, and can you share any success stories with us?
Our customers currently range from domestic residential, a charity and a project management company.
I like to think that each piece of work undertaken or issued is a success story. Our biggest success to date was to deliver a large number of education condition reports within a short period of time. Failure to do so would have resulted in schools not submitting bids for funding.
Looking back – if you could advise a younger version of yourself to do something different – what would it be?
I would tell myself to be better at football, I would be happy earning £100,000 a week! In all seriousness, I would have started my own company earlier. I have worked with some truly amazing people who have offered great support and guidance over the years, but starting Mace Davies earlier would definitely be high on the list.
Who is your role model or hero?
I don’t have any. I appreciate success stories where individuals work hard to achieve their goals.
what is your favourite book?
I haven’t got a favourite. I’m slowly working my way through James Pattinsons Detective Cross books.
What advice do you have for startup founders in 2019/2020?
The message would be quite simple, stick with it, put in the hours and reap the rewards for your hard work.
