Sean Tompkins CEO of RICS Mistaken about his professional status !!!!!

Sean Tompkins CEO of RICS

Mr Sean Tompkins is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the RICS. He has a high profile position and from what can be seen from his job description is that he is there to promote the RICS. The RICS reputation is purportedly founded on honesty, integrity and professionalism. It therefore came as somewhat of a shock to Mr Antino whilst undertaking research generally about the RICS in preparation of a forthcoming expose on the RICS that he stumbled across the Form 288a appointment of a company director or secretary.

In 2006 Mr Tompkins completed a Form 288a for submission to Companies House to become a Director of St Benedict Homes Ltd. The form was completed by Mr Tompkins in his own hand and he recorded existing directorships at that time being Director of RICS Business Services Ltd (2002 – to date) being 2006.

There is a requirement that the applicant provides a business description. This is what caused Mr Antino some alarm and justifiably so because Mr Tompkins had written claimed to be a chartered surveyor. Mr Tompkins has never been a chartered surveyor and remains at present without any professional standing within the RICS.

As a professional member of the RICS Mr Antino knows that it is wrong for anyone to hold themselves up to be a chartered surveyor, because RICS have by the Royal Charter, absolute control over the use of chartered surveyor. In much the very same way as someone filling in a form purporting to be a barrister, a doctor, a High Court Judge, a member of RIBA, without having those professional qualifications would lead to serious repercussions by those regulating bodies and justifiably so.

Mr Antino therefore wrote to the RICS advising in the strictest terms that Mr Tompkins had held himself up to be a chartered surveyor.

There was no acknowledgement of the complaint letter until approximately 4 – 5 weeks later when Mr Antino received a response from the RICS legal team. They thanked Mr Antino for bringing it to their attention, confirmed that they had looked into the matter and advised that this had been determined previously to be an administrative error. They were therefore closing the file and doing nothing further.

An administrative error, what does that mean? In the context of this plainly wrongful assertion on a legal document to Companies House, it cannot be an administrative error. Mr Tompkins filled in a form, he signed the form, and having submitted it to Companies House in anticipation of becoming a Director.

That cannot fall within the definition of an administrative error. An administrative error is filing the letter in the wrong file, incorrectly posting a letter to someone who should not get the letter, or putting the wrong address on an envelope, and sending the letter to an incorrect address. That is an administrative error.

This response gives rise to the question of just how many other people are doing the same thing. Mr Antino can assure you that it is not a rare occurrence. In 2017 Mr Antino identified a Mr Blake trading as a party wall surveyor has stated on his correspondence, stationery etc. that indeed he was RICS qualified and regulated. Mr Blake was not. Mr Antino reported this gentleman to the RICS and they simply got him to remove the designated RICS logos and not to misrepresent himself any further.

Where is the protection that should be offered by the RICS to its members to prevent people wrongly and mischievously using the RICS Royal Charter of chartered surveyor.

Members work very hard to achieve that status and they are quite rightly entitled to have that status protected and not abused, however it is being devalued.