Property professionals praised the facilities at The Deep Business Centre after a capacity crowd turned out for a training session.
A full house of more than 60 delegates including chartered surveyors, architects and specialist consultants rewarded the decision by the Hull and East Yorkshire local association of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) to select the Business Centre for the event.
Peter Melling, chair of the session and director of Brough-based Black Cat Services, said: “It was a cracking event which more than exceeded our expectations. The speakers were very high quality and the venue was ideal. All the feedback has been very positive so we will be looking to do more events like this.”
Freya Cross, business and corporate manager at The Deep, said: “We were delighted that the RICS selected us to host their event and that it attracted so many delegates, giving us a chance to welcome many of those who we work with in a professional capacity.”
The event was part of the continuing professional development programme organised by the RICS. Most of the meetings take place in Leeds or Sheffield but organisers made full use of the facilities at The Deep Business Centre to take a tour of the aquarium and to view a drone demonstration by Octovision Media at the nearby Fruit Market area.
They also presented updates on key property issues, with Martin Sugden of Leeds based Glisten Water discussing Legionella control and Doncaster-based chartered surveyor David Hornsby speaking about techniques which can establish the age of historic buildings.
The speakers also included Ian Streets, managing director of Anlaby-based About Access and a nationally-recognised expert on accessibility issues.
Ian said: “There are two models when it comes to disability – the medical view is that the problem lies with the individual if a disabled person can’t get up the stairs or read a menu. The other side is the social model, which says it is society that creates problems by the way things are designed.
“By thinking about disabled people and altering the design of something we can create an environment that is more accessible.”
Liz Haller, a partner at Hull-based chartered surveyors Haller Evans, said: “It was great to be able to attend a RICS event at such a convenient and reasonably priced venue, right in the city centre with good parking facilities. I'm sure delegates from outside the Hull area enjoyed the added benefit of tying in a quick tour of The Deep.”
Dale Gooderham, of Garness Jones Chartered Surveyors added: “It was great to be able to attend an event in the local area. Anything that makes training more accessible is good for the industry. The presentations were very interesting and relevant. If you don’t pay attention to these things there is a fair chance you will not meet current legislation.”