John MacMillan

John is a Director of Fairhurst Buckley and leads the Building Consultancy team.

He has worked in commercial property for more than 25 years and has been a Chartered Building Surveyor since 2004, having held senior positions within both national consultancies and independent practices.

His experience spans technical due diligence, dilapidations, project delivery and strategic property advice, with particular expertise in the automotive, roadside and multi-site property sectors. He also represented the tenant in the landmark Grove Investments v Cape Building Products dilapidations case, involving a claim in excess of £10 million.

But John believes technical knowledge is only part of what makes a good Building Surveyor.

His philosophy is simple:

“Good Building Surveyors understand buildings. Great Building Surveyors understand people too.”

Buildings don’t make business decisions. People do.

Understanding what a client is actually trying to achieve — commercially, operationally and personally — is every bit as important as understanding the building itself.

It’s an approach John has developed over a career spent working with different businesses, buildings and personalities. He’s learned that experience isn’t necessarily about having all the answers. Sometimes it’s about knowing which questions to ask, communicating clearly and being comfortable enough to say when there’s a better way.

John doesn’t particularly fit the stereotype of a Chartered Surveyor — and these days he’s quite comfortable with that.

Away from work, he lives in the Peak District with his family, is a lifelong Manchester United supporter and has a passion for cars, tattoos and motorcycles.

His garage contains both a Harley-Davidson and a classic Vespa. They’re very different machines, but they have one thing in common: you ride both with two feet forward.

It’s become something of a personal philosophy too.