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RICS South West

PUBLIC POLICY EXPERT IS NEW REGIONAL VOICE FOR RICS

Deborah Walsh, who has held several national and regional advisory roles, has been appointed head of public policy and communications for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in the West of England.

Salisbury-born Deborah – who holds a similar position for RICS in the West Midlands - has wide-ranging experience as a lobbyist and public policy expert.

A graduate in Law and European Studies, she worked for eight years in accountancy and insolvency work and was an external grant assessor for the National Lottery, before moving to Shropshire Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise to set up its policy department.

In 2001 she took up a key role as head of policy at the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Birmingham, representing the organisation locally, regionally, nationally and in Europe.

Deborah has also carried out work for the West Midlands Museums Service and the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET and last year, was part of a European-funded team advising business representatives from Central American countries on strategic planning, leadership and lobbying at a summit in Guatemala.

Before being appointed by RICS, Deborah was a policy development manager for the Gambling Commission. She is also one of 12 trustee-directors of the Pre-School Learning Alliance, a board member of West Mercia Crimestoppers and a founding trustee of Fairtradeart.

Matthew McKaig, Director of the RICS in the West of England, said: “Taking the South West and West Midlands together, RICS has more than 12,500 qualified members and approaching 6,000 trainee and student members. Deborah‘s extensive experience in a variety of fields means she is perfectly qualified to represent such a large and influential body of opinion.” 

ENDS             3rd January 2008

For further information please contact Neil Fraser, Sturgess Van Damme, on 01275 349011 or email neil@sturgessvandamme.co.uk