Meet the team: 5 Minutes with Tom Hawthorne

At SRVO Property, our surveying teams rely on technical knowledge, clear communication and effective project coordination to deliver consistent advice and practical outcomes for clients.

We caught up with Tom Hawthorne, Associate Director, to learn more about his journey into building surveying, the early experience that drew him to the profession and the importance of collaboration across every stage of a project.

With experience managing national survey programmes, client relationships and multi-disciplinary teams, Tom brings a practical and collaborative approach to his role at SRVO.

Describe your journey into property. What first drew you to the industry?

It started when I was about 15, helping with building projects going on at home. As a college student on work experience, I was shadowing a building surveyor in delivering surveys on multiple properties across the south coast.

Those early experiences really shaped my career journey. I was simply stunned by the wide knowledge and technical skill that buildings surveyors had, and their ability to advise and guide clients and contractors to get value for money and make confident decisions about their properties.

Inspired by those experiences, I took a traditional route into the industry, completing an undergraduate degree with a placement year and worked my way as a Graduate recruit to becoming an Associate Director at Savills.

Which recent project are you most proud of, and what did it teach you?

In a previous role, I delivered a complex portfolio survey of over 100 properties nationwide, a project that required high level client reporting and strategic management of relationships with client and partners, to achieve client requirements within tight timescales.

It taught me the importance of communication, collaboration, consistency and close programme management to get the best results and outcomes for the client.

Which of our values resonates most with you, and how do you live it day-to-day?

Collaboration is at the core of everything we do. We never act alone. Every project has an admin function, QA sign-off and of course, a client.

We must collaborate with people at every stage of a project. Clear and effective communication speeds us all up and increases overall profitability.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting in our sector, what would it be?

Just go ahead and do it.

Ask many questions; there’s no such thing as a silly question. Questions are how we learn. Also, avoid specialising too early.

What’s the most memorable or interesting thing you’ve seen on site or during a project?

While surveying a house in Kensington, I came across a toilet that was 200 years old! Even more surprising was finding it still worked. Definitely one of the more memorable reports to write up…

What’s your favourite building?

Not necessarily aesthetically, although the brutalism is quite cool, but I have always loved the urban planning vision of the Barbican Centre.

The central London “city within a city”, with high walls and high walks, makes it feel so secluded once inside. It is a totally different way of planning high-density blocks of flats, developed from what was a bombed-out site from the Second World War.

I particularly like the conservatory.