The industry this week mourned the sudden death of RICS vice-president and Atkins regional director Chris Powell.
Powell, 57, who died of a heart attack on Sunday, was due to take over as RICS president next year.

During his career, which also included a stint at Gleeds, Powell was involved with professional institutions. He was deputy chairman at the Construction Industry Council and industry technology group Construction IT.

Powell was also a non-executive director at a NHS trust.

The RICS and CIC praised Powell’s contribution to the industry. CIC chief executive Graham Watts said: “Chris was at the heart of so much of our work at CIC. He was very, very dynamic and got things done.”

RICS president Peter Fall said Powell was one of the first to push the issue of risk management. “Nobody was looking into it until Chris came along,” he said. Fall added that Powell was also at the forefront of changing the industry’s poor health and safety record.