I have been a member of Lanarkshire Business Group since starting Cass Property Consultants in 2005.  The group meets in Hamilton and the small to medium size businesses that make up the membership share business leads and best practice advice. Each week one member presents for ten minutes about their company and the services that…

For homeowners, instructing works to improve their property can be a worrying time, and the costs involved can be significant.  Unfortunately, part of our workload at CPC Limited is helping clients pick up the pieces when projects have gone badly wrong. Changes to How we Procure Repairs and Construction Works In a post-Covid world we…

With many Building Surveying firms to choose from it can be difficult for customers to decide who to go with.  Getting the right fit between client and consultant is essential to establishing and maintaining a good working relationship. To help you make the right choice, her are a few of the things that make our…

In central Scotland we are lucky to have a range of building types creating interesting streetscapes in our villages, towns and cities.  While I am interested in most building types I must admit to a particular fondness for older stone-built properties with slated roofs. For the most part, stone buildings were built for people of…

Students at high school face daunting choices during their school career, whether it be what subject options they should take, or later what higher education courses they should apply for.  Understandably there are mixed results with some focussed individuals following a well-charted course to reach their intended career, and others (from choice) never working in…

I recently got a call from a lady who asked whether my company surveys domestic properties offered for sale. She explained she and her husband had looked at a property which they liked but had nagging concerns about some things they saw during the viewing. Client confidentiality prevents me from giving more detail but suffice…

I watched Bad Builders: Bang to Rights on STV on 27 January, my dad’s birthday (Hi dad) and Holocaust Memorial Day (lest we forget).  I was particularly interested in one case that our host ‘consumer champion’ Dominic Littlewood was presenting.  This was the usual sting operation involving a house and bogus homeowner fitted with covert…

  The coincidence of two events prompted me to choose the subject for today’s blog.  The first was the fact that I recently noticed rebranding programmes in the high street and the media.  Two that caught my eye were Clintons the greetings card retailer and the animal charity PDSA. The second event was that I’ve…

Last week was my turn at Lanarkshire Business Group to do the ‘education spot’, a short talk on an educational topic that is delivered in the first half of the group before we break for breakfast. I chose to speak about the impact that different personality types can have on business peoples’ prospects of gaining…

Yesterday it was my turn to give the 10 minute presentation to my fellow members of Lanarkshire Business Group which I joined in 2005 when starting my company.  The group is an excellent organisation that strikes the right balance between friendliness, humour and providing business leads between group members.  It is also an excellent forum…