Overcoming career setbacks from site to sole trader

As an electrician on the railways, my dad worked under engineers and surveyors. So he always told me I should aim to be a surveyor, as they were the bosses.

Having scraped through sixth form in York with A levels in geography and general studies, I started working on sites as a casual labourer for a plasterer and an electrician. But by mucking in with all trades I was introduced to the workings of the construction industry, and I still use this knowledge and experience, both good and bad, four decades on.

Five years later, in the mid 1980s, I met another chartered building surveyor, David Brown, who encouraged me to switch profession. So I headed to Sheffield Polytechnic – now Sheffield Hallam University – for four years on a building surveying BSc, studying one day a week and working the other four as an architectural technician.

However, in my second year I faced a big setback when I was made redundant. I returned briefly to labouring to pay the mortgage, but soon realised the way to reboot my career was to be proactive. I wrote to every architect and surveyor in Yorkshire and got an offer of a three-month contract as an architectural technician at Knight Frank & Rutley, as Knight Frank was then known.

I must have made a decent job of it as my temporary contract was made permanent with the firm allowing me to complete my degree. I did so in 1993, achieving a distinction, and then took my Test of Professional Competence – the forerunner to the APC – to become an RICS member in 1994.

When the associate partner moved on, I assumed his role in 1995, and took the lead on many and varied instructions. Working for a major practice with my previous architectural experience set me up as a well-rounded chartered building surveyor. It enabled me to be self-sufficient and eventually have the confidence to enter into partnership with others and set up a full-service firm of commercial surveyors, Lawrence Hannah & Skelton, in 1996.

I ended up as managing partner in 2001. However, in all honesty this didn't suit me, so in 2006 I decided to strike out as a sole trader as Skelton Consultancy Ltd, working closely with a group of long-term clients on traditional building surveying and development projects.

The stroke has left me with permanent brain damage, and I initially thought I would have to retire. Although I suffered only mild speech problems and my cognition was only temporarily affected, my left arm and leg were paralysed and the doctors did not expect me to walk again.

However, the key skills of a surveyor are identifying and analysing problems and coming up with solutions, so I applied these to my rehab and recovery. Surrounded by a great team of therapists, I set about years of physiotherapy. It was the hardest work of my life – brutally painful and dispiriting at times, but with the worthwhile goal of a better life to come.

I would add that, although I did so grudgingly, I had paid for critical illness insurance, even though I wondered at the time whether I really needed it. It clearly turned out that I did. So if you haven't done so, please check your own cover.

I am mainly desk-based, making and defending dilapidations claims, acting as party wall surveyor and doing plenty of computer-aided design, architectural and planning work. I design residential and commercial new-build and conversions, write statements and make planning and listed building applications.

Although my left hand remains stubbornly paralysed and my left leg simply a prop, I can get about with a combination of wheelchair, trike, walking stick and orthosis strapped to my lower leg. Thankfully, I am now permitted to drive again.

Alongside my daily professional work, I have been a trustee with housing charity Inclusion Foundation, and have a non-executive role at non-profit disability cycling specialist Get Cycling. I am a visiting lecturer and trainer at Leeds School of Architecture teaching students about party wall practice and procedure, and RICS-accredited APC counsellor and assessor.

These roles fit nicely around my reduced working hours and keep me fully occupied, allowing me to pay society back for all the help and support I have received throughout my professional life and disability.

More recently I have worked on a small development of structural insulated panel eco-houses, been on site repairing medieval timber-frame shops on York's Stonegate and concluded a couple of dilapidations cases.

In a move that I hope will round my career off nicely, I am helping a start-up practice of younger surveyors with a view to becoming its technical and professional director. As I share my experience and knowledge with the next generation I expect to learn just as much from them.

I hope this insight illustrates that qualifying as a chartered surveyor opens up opportunity wherever you start, and whatever life throws at you. A good surveyor is equipped with the skills to adapt and move forward in what continues to be a fulfilling and rewarding career. My dad's advice all those years ago was obviously right.