Paul rejoins Scanlans in new role as fire risk assessor

Property management and surveying practice Scanlans has welcomed back an experienced property manager who has retrained as a fire risk assessor, bolstering the firm’s specialist team in line with growing demand for its services.

Paul Christopher initially joined Scanlans in 2005 and remained with the firm until 2016.

He returned a year later and stayed as a property manager until early 2022. He has now re-joined again, this time in a new role as part of the building surveying team led by Tony Mancini.

Paul is based in Scanlans’ Manchester office and is working across the north west as the firm expands its fire risk assessment service beyond its own portfolio of managed apartment blocks to cover commercial buildings, including shops, offices and warehouses, and residential sites such as sheltered accommodation, houses in multiple occupation, local authority and housing association properties.

He has been accepted as an associate of the Institute of Fire Safety Managers and is already an associate member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a member of the Institute of Residential Property Management and a member of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management.

Scanlans’ partner Ian Magenis said: “Paul spent many years as a senior property manager and built a reputation as a well-respected practitioner in the north west market providing the highest standard of service.

“He’s always enjoyed working at Scanlans and appreciates that we are a supportive organisation which offers exciting and fulfilling career development opportunities.

“We will always look to develop the skillsets of our staff, even in new specialist areas. Paul was seeking a new challenge and so we sponsored him through his training to enable him to become a fully accredited fire risk assessor.

“With an increasing emphasis on fire safety across the property sector, Paul’s new role enables us to expand our offering and it’s great to have him back with us.

“We believe that his experience and qualifications will provide clients and colleagues with an excellent and knowledgeable perspective in this field, as he has an insight into not just the regulatory requirements but also into how these impact on the residential market, and practical solutions within leasehold legislation.”

Paul said: “After 17 years in property management, I decided to change direction and take on a new challenge.

“I saw an opportunity at Scanlans to move into fire risk assessment and I’m extremely grateful to the partners for supporting me with the required training to achieve the necessary accreditation. I’m excited to embark on this new phase of my career with the firm.”

Alongside property management and fire risk assessments, Scanlans provides commercial and residential property valuations and surveys, expert witness, building surveying and LPA Receivership services.