John has over 30 years’ commercial experience across a wide range of building, civil engineering, and rail projects throughout the UK and internationally, representing contractors, public and private sector clients, and leading insurers.

John holds a BSc (Hons) in Quantity Surveying and an MSc in Construction Law & Dispute Resolution. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and an NEC Accredited Project Manager.

John began his career with Hewlett Civil Engineering working on major road and drainage projects before moving to Miller Construction where he held a senior site-based position with sole commercial responsibility on infrastructure projects up to £13 million.  He subsequently joined HBG Construction as Project Quantity Surveyor, responsible for a team of quantity surveyors across multiple new build schemes.

Between 2002 and 2009 John served as Company Director of a medium-sized regional building contractor, where he managed all commercial and financial aspects of the business.  During this period he grew the company’s turnover to £10 million per annum, managed a senior team of 12 staff with overall responsibility for more than 100 employees, and was solely responsible for the preparation and prosecution of commercial claims including adjudication referrals, mediation settlements, and County Court proceedings.

Since 2000 John has operated as an Independent Quantity Surveyor, representing several contractors and public and private sector clients across many industry sectors on projects throughout the UK.  His rail experience is extensive: he was Programme Commercial Lead on the Kettering to Wigston electrification project where he recruited and trained the commercial team to deliver a £550 million portfolio, achieving the Department for Transport target for rail electrification at a single track kilometre cost of under £3,000 and net efficiencies of circa 10%.  On the Midland Main Line Electrification he served as Senior Commercial Manager representing the United Kingdom’s national rail infrastructure manager in the negotiation and delivery of route clearance and station remodelling works to £150 million, responsible for a team of six commercial staff.

John has also served as Commercial Lead on the Sheffield Tram Train Project, managed the commercial delivery of the final phase of the Edinburgh Tram Project with a combined value exceeding £90 million, and led the Direct Delivery business for the United Kingdom’s national rail infrastructure manager delivering an annual turnover of £40 million.

John’s strength lies in applying his dispute resolution experience to help projects navigate away from dispute by identifying problems early and intervening to limit cost escalation.  His expertise has been relied upon by the United Kingdom’s national rail infrastructure manager to successfully manage and resolve disputes totalling over £100 million, reducing cost and helping to preserve strong relationships with framework suppliers.  He is currently leading negotiations on the £280 million Leeds Existing Station Project, where he has developed strategies and value engineering workstreams to mitigate budget pressure of over £70 million.

Since 2015 John has also worked as an Independent Quantum Expert and analyst, providing forensic analysis and preparation of independent reports for commissions associated with final account disputes where legal proceedings were anticipated.  All claims in which John has acted as quantum expert settled before formal proceedings commenced.

John’s dispute management experience includes retention by a leading insurer as Expert Adviser during legal proceedings and the preparation of independent quantum reports across a number of industry sectors in claims up to £40 million.  He has represented both referring and respondent parties in adjudications covering interim applications for payment, final account disputes, repudiatory breach of contract, delay and associated loss and expense, and defective work.  He has participated in several mediations and been involved in County Court proceedings including adjudication enforcement and applications for security for costs.  In addition to traditional infrastructure and building projects, he has represented contractors in disputes relating to specialist projects including off-shore wind farms and aerial access.

John is fully conversant with NRM, SMM7, CESMM, and RMM methods of measurement and is experienced in the management of contracts using JCT, NEC, FIDIC, and ICC forms together with the Network Rail suite of amendments.