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@btinternet.com

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 involved faculty buildings as well as residences for the staff. Also included was the creation of the University Chapel from the stone taken from an old sugar boiler house. This had originally 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. In 1955, the old boiler house was donated by the owners of Hampden Estate, founded in 1753, to Her Royal Highness Princess Alice, who was then Chancellor of what was then called the UWI. She arranged for it to be dismantled, block by block. Each building stone was meticulously numbered, then transported to the Mona Campus, north of the capital Kingston, and reassembled. It took three years to complete the task. When it was done, this beautiful Georgian building, made with finely dressed limestone from Hampden Estate, was reborn as the University Chapel, which is today considered an architectural gem

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. He also worked privately as a quantity surveyor for Bernard Templar, a contractor actively involved in various building works, notably the Jamaica Sugar Company, whose Hampden Estate is mentioned above.

Coming back to England in 1957, Ian returned to Young & Brown and then later 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.

Please view our other pages:

Lowther More about Lowther The Villars Lowther Family The Lonsdale Story The Lowthers in Retirement

Page 1