Nick Maclean begins term as RICS president

Nick Maclean has officially stepped into his role as president of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors nine months after taking over from predecessor Justin Sullivan following the latter’s decision to step aside.

Maclean became acting president of the RICS in March last year when Sullivan, who had been elected president in January 2025, stepped aside just two months into the job following his involvement in a legal battle of a £32m moth-infested mansion.

Maclean, who has previously held senior roles at the RICS, including as chair of the governing council, started his role as the institution’s 144th president on 1 January.

He has been a key figure behind the RICS’ transformation over the past three years since the governance scandal which rocked the institution in 2021, which led to the resignations of four senior staff including chief executive Sean Tompkins and president Kathleen Fontana.

Maclean said his one-year term will focus on four key areas, skills, homes and infrastructure, sustainability and resilience and data and technology.

He described his appointment as president “one of the proudest achievements of my career”.

“It’s such an exciting time for the RICS as it evolves to meet the fundamental reshaping of real estate driven by technology and sustainability and profound social, cultural and geoeconomic shifts,” he said.

The institution’s chief executive Justin Young said Maclean “knows the organisation inside out” and would bring experience from his overseas roles including as CBRE’s chair of the Middle East and North Africa region.

Other new year appointments include Susanne Eickerman-Riepe as senior vice president and Maureen Ehrenberg as president elect following her term as senior vice president in 2025.