Ian Lowther first saw business life in Holborn

Lowther

Ian B Lowther FCIArb; FRICS; ACII; FCILA Chartered Arbitrator (Retired 1999)

Swaffham

Norfolk

United Kingdom

Emails: ian.lowther@lowthergroup.co.uk; ian.lowther@xtra.co.nz

Aut Viam Inveniam Aut Faciam - Find a way or make a way

Ian Lowther first entered business life in Holborn, London, in October 1947, with Young & Brown - Chartered Quantity Surveyors. At the beginning of the Peace, after the conflict of WW2, severe austerity afflicted the exhausted nation. Optimism was high. But stringent controls over the availability of building materials significantly impeded restoration, let alone expansion, of the Construction Industry. Returning servicemen upon demobilisation rightly resumed their former employment positions, which inevitably hindered the professional advancement of the younger apprentices. It was a frustrating period for a young and keen school-leaver. Nonetheless, after qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Ian commenced his full professional career in 1956.

He then practised as a Chartered Quantity Surveyor in the City of London.

For a while Ian served on a 'tour' in Jamaica with Widnell & Trollope, Chartered Quantity Surveyors. He chiefly worked upon the construction of the then newly-created campus of the University of the West Indies. This also included the creation of the University Chapel from the stone taken from a sugar store that had itself been built from Portland stone used as ballast in the sailing ships outward bound from England for collection of the island sugar and transportation back to Britain. At this time Ian was also professionally involved with Toplis & Harding, Chartered Loss Adjusters, on a part - time basis, in hurricane and earthquake damage assessments for insurance purposes.

Coming back to England, Ian returned to Young & Brown and then served for a time with H R Heasman & Partners. But 'pure quantities', as such , increasingly became more and more boring. Thus, soon after his marriage to Ann, Ian Lowther studied for and became a Chartered Loss Adjuster specialising in Building Insurance Claims, located successively in Brighton, Southampton, Bournemouth and Norwich. He spent some 23 years with a single company, Ellis & Buckle, first as Regional Surveyor, then Branch Manager and finally Regional Director.

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