Cramlington former joiner swaps his tools for Presidential chains at House of Lords inauguration lunch

CRAMLINGTON  based surveyor, Colin Bell, of Paramount Associates has this month been elected to President of the Association of Building Engineers (ABE) after a career that has seen him work his way up from a trade joiner to a Chartered Surveyor and Building Consultant, working with the north east residential and commercial property market.

Colin attended the House of Lords on 10 May for his inauguration lunch.  The event was hosted by Lord Howie of Troon and there were over 80 guests from senior positions in the surveying, building and engineering industry.

Colin’s lofty inauguration lunch was a far cry from his early working days.  Having been educated at Cramlington High School Colin went on to work as a joiner for various north east builders until the age of 24.  But luckily he’d also got the bug for education and had been studying alongside his role.  As he studied hard he worked his way up first in North Tyneside Council, then the private sector, then onto Gateshead Council and then in Gentoo and along the way got his HNC, his professional qualifications and his degree in surveying from Northumbria University.

After a head-on motorbike accident in June 2006 Colin reassessed his career and when an opportunity for voluntary redundancy came up he took it and set up his own surveying and building consultancy Paramount Associates. 

Colin says:

“I was proud of my career history which had taken me from a trade background, then through local authority, private sector and housing association roles.  I knew when I started Paramount Associates that I could take this experience and offer expertise, professionalism and diversity to potential clients without being ‘stiff-shirted’ in my approach.”

Colin has been a member of the ABE since the 1980s, and has held roles that have included the Chairman of the Northern Region, the Continuous Professional Development Co-ordinator and Vice President.

Colin says:

“I am honoured to have been inaugurated as President of the ABE.  It is a prestigious organisation  where members in the building and building maintenance fields get together to further develop their professional standards and most importantly of all to provide professional networking opportunities to share innovation and best practice  amongst members.  I am looking forward to helping it achieve these aims over the coming year.”

For more information on Paramount Associates or the Association of Building Engineers please contact Colin on 01670 715915 or on info@paramountassociates.co.uk