Major development and infrastructure, transformation, procurement and investment, and governance and assurance for boards and senior executives. Led personally by Terrance James, drawing on more than four decades of delivery in housing, healthcare, education and public services.
Chartered engineer, director, chief executive and board chair. More than four decades of executive delivery and governance across the UK, Caribbean and Africa.
About Terrance →Six examples showing the breadth of Terrance’s executive, development and governance experience.
Led the £500m+ community-led regeneration programme, securing housing transfer, private finance and the masterplan for 2,500 new homes.
Co-established the 19,000-home organisation, supported £120m of Decent Homes investment and chaired Audit & Risk for more than a decade.
Developed the £428m Accommodation Strategy and a separate Health and Healthcare Strategy for Shropshire, aligning estate planning and investment with healthcare requirements across NHS and local-government partners.
Developed the University’s estates masterplan and led a major estates and facilities portfolio, including delivery of the £48m Faculty of Health development on time and to budget.
Led a nationally significant project and procurement organisation, including TT$2bn+ procurement for Government capital and infrastructure projects and c. TT$1bn annual pharmaceutical and medical-supplies procurement.
Development appraisal, design development, independent assurance and procurement for a high-end 184-home residential development in Grand Cayman.
Current and ongoing work in construction, development, governance and higher education.
Chair of the Resources Committee on the Court of Governors, providing assurance and scrutiny of finance, estates and resources. Link Governor for Employment and Employability.
Higher Education Programme Leader for Construction and the Built Environment, leading the Site Supervision, Quantity Surveying and Building Services Engineering pathways and teaching BIM and digital construction, and preparing apprentices for end-point assessment (EPA). Non-Executive Governor and EDI Link Governor.
Development appraisal, design development, independent assurance and procurement for a 184-home residential scheme.
Current project work with Zion Construction on a special needs school in Croydon.
Industry education, governance and public discussion, including the University of Westminster’s Being Black in Construction event.
Phase 2 of Awaab’s Law starts on 30 November 2026, and the new Decent Homes Standard is now confirmed for 2035. Here is what has changed, who it affects and what boards should be asking for.
“One of Terry’s main strengths is his ability to provide an effective challenge to the Executive Team but at the same time be seen as being supportive.”Qadeer Kiani OBEChair, Hightown Housing Association; Group Board Chair, Populo Living
“A highly skilled, highly experienced healthcare and management professional who excels at a strategic and leadership level.”Amjid BaigDeputy Head of Estates, West London NHS Trust
“An exemplary, competent and confident professional, a highly experienced project manager with strong leadership skills.”Al GhaffDirector, Community and Advocacy Communications, Internet Society Foundation
“An excellent CEO/General Manager who has a drive to inspire and coach young people to achieve success.”Tyrese Gibson ClarkeBusiness Analyst, Guardian General Insurance Limited
“Having the opportunity to work with Terry has allowed me and my peers to grow professionally while unlocking new perspectives and knowledge. He is a phenomenal leader!”Bernell St. RosePresident, Saint Lucia National Youth Council
“Terry is an excellent senior manager and has the ability to drive the best of people, excellent motivator and communicator.”Afzal KhanProject Delivery Manager, Low Carbon Europe
Strategic, development, estates, programme, governance and transformation assignments where senior experience matters.
Terrance began as an engineer and has since led estates for NHS hospital trusts and a London university, co-founded three housing organisations, chaired audit and risk for a 19,000-home landlord, led regeneration in south London and served as a chief executive in Trinidad and Tobago.
He established BDP in 2002 as a vehicle for principal-led strategic and management advice. Today he works in a selective portfolio career combining governance leadership, strategic advisory and assurance assignments, and training and coaching in construction management, quantity surveying and building services engineering.
“Understand the problem, challenge the assumptions and stay close enough to delivery to know whether the solution is working.”
Connect on LinkedIn →Each stage added a different way of seeing the same built environment — which is why the experience is broad without being unfocused.
Chartered Engineer. Building services, statutory maintenance and compliance — understanding how buildings actually work.
Director of Estates & Facilities across NHS trusts, universities and schools; Chief Executive of NIPDEC.
Regeneration, masterplanning and development appraisal — from Clapham Park to Grand Cayman.
Three decades of board and committee leadership spanning housing and higher education — including Lewisham Homes, Croydon People’s Housing Association, the University of Westminster and Croydon College / University Centre.
Higher education programme leadership, teaching BIM and digital construction, and apprenticeship EPA preparation — developing the next generation of construction professionals.
Director of Estates & Facilities at Lewisham and Guy’s NHS Trust and at Adur, Arun and Worthing Primary Care Trust; Director of Estates & Procurement at Barnet Primary Care NHS Trust.
Established as a principal-led advisory practice.
Director of Estates & Facilities (2008–2011); Sessional Lecturer to 2012 in statutory maintenance and regulatory housing compliance.
Co-founder and Audit & Risk Committee Chair across 19,000 homes.
HE Programme Leader, Construction and the Built Environment (Site Supervision, QS, Building Services Engineering); Non-Executive and EDI Link Governor.
Chair, Resources Committee; Link Governor for Employment and Employability.
A career viewed through delivery. Selected programmes, executive responsibilities, governance roles and advisory assignments across four decades, grouped by sector. Each example distinguishes Terrance’s capacity, the organisation or client, the scale of the work, the period of his involvement and, where relevant, the wider programme status.
Brief: A resident-led regeneration and housing-transfer programme.
Contribution: Led regeneration and place development, secured stock transfer and private finance, and led the masterplan.
Outcome: Transfer of 2,000 homes and £300m private finance secured; masterplan for 2,500 new homes. The wider regeneration continued beyond the 2002–2005 assignment.
| Capacity | Director of Regeneration & Place |
|---|---|
| Client | London Borough of Lambeth |
| Scale | £500m+ masterplan · 2,500 new homes |
| Period | 2002–2005 |
| Status | Ongoing |
At the invitation of the Mayor of Lewisham, co-established Lewisham Homes, consulted residents and secured the transfer of 19,000 homes. Secured £120m to deliver the Decent Homes programme and built the council’s first new council homes in over 30 years, while chairing Audit & Risk for more than a decade.
| Capacity | Co-founder; Chair, Audit & Risk Committee |
|---|---|
| Scale | 19,000 homes · £120m funding |
| Period | 2006–2017 |
“Terry’s chairing skills also warrant a special mention as he is very skilled at ensuring that all members are able to fully contribute in the decisions made by the Audit Committee.”— Qadeer Kiani OBE, Chair, Hightown Housing Association; Group Board Chair, Populo Living
Co-founded as a Black and minority ethnic (BME) housing association to meet the diverse housing needs of Croydon’s communities. Later, as Chair, led the association out of enforced Housing Corporation supervision, strengthening governance, financial control and regulatory confidence.
| Capacity | Co-founder; Chair |
|---|---|
| Period | 2001–2009 |
Croydon Peoples Housing joined Notting Hill Housing in 2009. View group history
Brief: Align accommodation investment and healthcare requirements across partner organisations.
Contribution: Developed the £428m Accommodation Strategy and a separate Health and Healthcare Strategy.
Outcome: Strategy assignments completed, providing a framework for accommodation planning and healthcare development.
| Capacity | Programme Manager — BDP assignment |
|---|---|
| Client | Shropshire County PCT |
| Scale | £428m Accommodation Strategy · separate healthcare strategy |
| Status | Strategy assignments completed |
Built and led a shared estates and facilities service for four NHS Trusts across Bedfordshire. Established the service model, led procurement and commercial negotiation, and secured a £25m-a-year, four-year rolling agreement — bringing estates, asset management and support services under one accountable operation.
| Capacity | Director of Estates & Facilities |
|---|---|
| Scale | £25m a year · 4 NHS Trusts |
Executive leadership across a series of NHS organisations, with responsibility for estates, facilities, procurement, capital development, health & safety and organisational transformation. Developed estates masterplans and capital strategies; led service rationalisation and shared-service initiatives; coordinated estates integration supporting the formation of South London & Maudsley NHS Trust; and led the development and delivery of three NHS hospitals at Worthing, Edgware and Lewisham.
| Capacity | Director of Estates & Facilities |
|---|---|
| Scale | 3 NHS hospitals · c.£300m capital investment · operational budgets up to £65m · workforces up to 350 |
| Period | 1997–2002 |
Led estates and procurement for primary care services across the borough, including premises, capital investment and commercial arrangements.
| Capacity | Director of Estates & Procurement |
|---|---|
| Period | 1997–2002 |
Led estates and facilities services and capital investment for Adur, Arun and Worthing PCT, including the development and delivery of Meadowfield Hospital at Swandean, Worthing.
| Capacity | Director of Estates & Facilities |
|---|---|
| Period | 1997–2002 |
Brief: University estates strategy, capital development and service performance.
Contribution: Led the estates and facilities portfolio, developed the estates masterplan and delivered the Faculty of Health development.
Outcome: £48m Faculty of Health development delivered on time and to budget, with improvement in maintenance and estates performance.
| Capacity | Director of Estates & Facilities; Sessional Lecturer |
|---|---|
| Scale | £60m portfolio · £48m Faculty of Health development · c.260 staff |
| Period | Director 2008–2011 · Lecturer to 2012 |
“I worked with him on one of the most challenging estate projects at LSBU and was very impressed with him.”— Al Ghaff, Director, Community and Advocacy Communications, Internet Society Foundation
Led post-merger integration of estates, facilities, health & safety and catering across a nine-school federation. Developed the estates masterplan and asset strategy, established the property function, introduced CAFM systems, secured capital funding and delivered/refurbished three primary schools. Restructured catering operations, increasing surplus by 55%, and expanded income generation from school assets.
| Capacity | Director of Estates & Facilities |
|---|---|
| Scale | Nine-school estate · £18m operational budget · c.£25m primary-school investment |
| Status | Completed |
Retained under Ministerial appointment to develop and deliver the IPCC’s regional accommodation strategy, sourcing and fitting out premises and relocating up to 900 staff and services across Cardiff, Manchester and Loughborough within six months.
| Capacity | Programme Lead — BDP assignment |
|---|---|
| Client | Independent Police Complaints Commission |
| Scale | £16m programme · up to 900 staff · 3 regional offices · 6 months |
Brief: Bring dispersed payroll, pensions, recruitment and related transactions into a shared service.
Contribution: Conceived the People Centre operating model and established its processes and team.
Outcome: Shared service established for approximately 17,000 staff and pensioners; reported savings of £5m.
| Capacity | Design & Set-up — BDP assignment |
|---|---|
| Scale / outcome | c.17,000 staff and pensioners · £5m savings |
| Period | 2005–2006 |
| Status | Completed |
Board-level oversight of workforce and planning for Lewisham’s largest youth work and play provider, which stepped out from the council in 2016 as a mutual and later became a charity.
| Capacity | Chair, Workforce & Planning |
|---|---|
| Organisation | Youth First, Lewisham |
Led NIPDEC through organisational turnaround and business repositioning at the interface between Government policy, procurement and delivery. The organisation managed TT$200m projects in delivery, TT$2bn+ procurement for Government capital and infrastructure projects and c. TT$1bn annual pharmaceutical and medical-supplies procurement, with executive accountability to ministers, Cabinet processes, Parliamentary scrutiny, the Board and formal tender governance.
| Capacity | Chief Executive |
|---|---|
| Organisation | National Insurance Property Development Company Ltd |
| Projects | TT$200m |
| Capital / infrastructure | TT$2bn+ |
| Pharma procurement | c. TT$1bn / year |
| Period | 2018–2020 |
| Governance | Ministerial reporting · Cabinet processes · Parliamentary scrutiny · Board & tender governance |
“He guided me and my peers to have the right mindset in business and life as a whole.”— Tyrese Gibson Clarke, Business Analyst, Guardian General Insurance Limited
“Having the opportunity to work with Terry has allowed me and my peers to grow professionally while unlocking new perspectives and knowledge. He is a phenomenal leader!”— Bernell St. Rose, President, Saint Lucia National Youth Council
Led the development appraisal, design development, independent assurance and procurement for a high-end residential development in Grand Cayman, including the project execution plan.
| Capacity | Development Adviser — BDP assignment |
|---|---|
| Scale | US$1.2bn scheme value · 184 planned homes |
| Status | Ongoing |
As Managing Director of Africa Infrastructure (UK) Ltd, developed a c. US$1bn housing, new-town and transport programme with Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, including direct engagement with the President of Nigeria. The programme covered mass transit for Abuja, five new towns and 25,000 homes across Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt.
| Capacity | Managing Director, Africa Infrastructure (UK) Ltd |
|---|---|
| Client | Federal Ministry of Housing & Urban Development |
| Scale | c. US$1bn · 25,000 homes · 5 new towns |
| Period | 2004–2008 |
| Programme scope | Proposed housing, new towns and transport |
| Recorded milestone | Programme development and signed MOU |
Advised the Government of Ghana on stadia development, regeneration and legacy for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, including direct engagement with the Minister of Works on the stadium-construction programme.
| Client | Government of Ghana |
|---|---|
| Period | 2004–2008 |
Development strategy, infrastructure, regeneration, estates and capital programmes that turn organisational requirements into deliverable projects.
Call when: a major scheme needs a credible strategy, delivery route or recovery plan.
Evidence: Clapham Park; £428m Shropshire Accommodation Strategy and separate Health and Healthcare Strategy; LSBU; Cayman Islands; Nigeria.
Operating-model redesign, shared services, organisational recovery and senior leadership for organisations facing complex change.
Call when: services are fragmented, performance needs recovery or a senior leadership gap needs filling.
Evidence: Brent People Centre; NHS shared services; Haberdashers’ integration; NIPDEC turnaround.
Procurement strategy, commercial challenge, capital investment planning and supply-chain oversight, grounded in executive responsibility for public procurement.
Call when: procurement, investment priorities or supply-chain performance need experienced challenge.
Evidence: NIPDEC: TT$2bn+ procurement for Government capital and infrastructure projects and c. TT$1bn annual pharmaceutical and medical-supplies procurement; LSBU estates and procurement; IPCC regional accommodation.
Independent board-level scrutiny of finance, capital, estates, procurement and delivery risk, with clear accountability and practical recommendations.
Call when: a board needs assurance that decisions, risks, resources and delivery are under control.
Evidence: Audit & Risk Chair, Lewisham Homes; Chair of Resources, University of Westminster; housing and university governance.
Helping boards and senior executives make better decisions on complex development, estates, procurement and capital programmes — particularly where delivery, governance and public accountability intersect. Terrance leads every assignment himself, drawing on specialist associates where a brief requires additional capacity.
Development strategy, infrastructure, regeneration, estates and capital programmes that turn organisational requirements into deliverable projects.
Call when: a major scheme needs a credible strategy, delivery route or recovery plan.
Evidence: Clapham Park; £428m Shropshire Accommodation Strategy and separate Health and Healthcare Strategy; LSBU; Cayman Islands; Nigeria.
Operating-model redesign, shared services, organisational recovery and senior leadership for organisations facing complex change.
Call when: services are fragmented, performance needs recovery or a senior leadership gap needs filling.
Evidence: Brent People Centre; NHS shared services; Haberdashers’ integration; NIPDEC turnaround.
Procurement strategy, commercial challenge, capital investment planning and supply-chain oversight, grounded in executive responsibility for public procurement.
Call when: procurement, investment priorities or supply-chain performance need experienced challenge.
Evidence: NIPDEC: TT$2bn+ procurement for Government capital and infrastructure projects and c. TT$1bn annual pharmaceutical and medical-supplies procurement; LSBU estates and procurement; IPCC regional accommodation.
Independent board-level scrutiny of finance, capital, estates, procurement and delivery risk, with clear accountability and practical recommendations.
Call when: a board needs assurance that decisions, risks, resources and delivery are under control.
Evidence: Audit & Risk Chair, Lewisham Homes; Chair of Resources, University of Westminster; housing and university governance.
Training and coaching in construction management, quantity surveying and building services engineering — for individuals, teams and apprentices, including BIM and digital construction, health and safety, and preparation for apprenticeship end-point assessment (EPA).
“His mentoring has been invaluable to me in my own career.”— Amjid Baig, Deputy Head of Estates, West London NHS Trust
Clarify the problem, the decision required and the intended outcome.
Review evidence, stakeholders, constraints, risks and capability.
Develop practical options and an implementation route.
Provide senior challenge, governance and implementation support through to results.
Short, dated briefings on legislation, regulation and policy affecting the built environment, with a practical view on what boards and clients should do.
Phase 2 of Awaab’s Law starts on 30 November 2026, and the new Decent Homes Standard is now confirmed for 2035. Here is what has changed, who it affects and what boards should be asking for.
Read the briefing →
A contribution to the discussion on representation, progression and the construction industry’s future workforce.
View the event →BDP is available for selected strategic, development, estates, programme, governance and transformation assignments.
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Principal: Terrance James
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