Matthew Howell, managing director for the UK and Ireland at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, is leaving after seven years for a new role at the British Medical Association, marking the latest exit from RICS.
Howell will become deputy chief executive at the BMA, where he will be responsible for bringing together the trade union and the association’s professional activities under single leadership. He will join the BMA at the end of September.
BMA chief executive Tom Grinyer said: “Matthew joins the BMA at the end of an extraordinary year in which the BMA has led the way in supporting the medical profession through the pandemic, and he will play a critical role in delivering our new strategy including our ambitious growth plans.”
Howell also previously worked for a range of organisations including RSM, Deloitte, and BUPA.
For Howell, the BMA role was an offer he “could not refuse”. “I have really enjoyed working across the built and natural environment and look forward to staying in touch with the many colleagues and friends I have made over the past few years,” he said.
RICS has begun the process of recruiting his successor, ahead of his departure in mid-September.
His exit comes after Mark Powell, the institution’s executive director for schools of built environment, left the organisation last month. Powell, who worked at RICS for 12 years, will focus on non-executive roles.
A source close to the situation said that Powell had already been planning to retire for some time.
Both departures come as RICS has been seeking a successor to Chris Brooke, who is interim chair of the governing council.
It is thought that Brooke, also a past president for the 2018-19 year, is due to step down in November. He has been interim chair since 2019.
Brooke is widely viewed as one of the key decision-markers at RICS alongside former chief operating officer Violetta Parylo, who resigned in June.
The news comes as the industry awaits the outcome of an independent review led by Alison Levitt QC, with the report due in mid-August after suffering delays.
The review focuses on allegations that RICS tried to suppress a critical internal report into its finances in 2018-19, with events leading to the dismissal of four non-executive directors.
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