I didn't start out intending to specialise in listed buildings. I started out wanting to be a good builder. After more than 20 years working on all sorts of construction projects across East Sussex, Surrey and Kent, I found that the work I was most drawn to, and where I felt I could make the most difference, was on the old ones. The tricky ones. The buildings that matter. Grade II listed cottages. Wealden timber frame farmhouses. Flint and brick period properties. Horsham stone roofs. These buildings carry centuries of history in every joint and every course of masonry. Get the materials wrong, or rush the job, and you can do damage that takes decades to show up, and a lot of money to put right. 

 

I was mentored by master builders who drilled into me the fundamentals of traditional construction: that lime mortar is not a compromise; it is the right material. That matching brickwork properly takes time. That a building's ability to breathe is not a nice-to-have; it is the reason old buildings are still standing. I'm a one-man operation at my core, which means when you hire me, I am the person who turns up. I might bring in trusted specialists for specific elements of a larger project, a lime plasterer, a roofer who understands heritage materials, but I am on site, responsible, and available to you directly. 

 

I live and work in East Sussex. I know the local planning authorities, the conservation officers, and the Historic England requirements that apply here. I know which reclaim yards carry decent Horsham stone and which suppliers make handmade bricks that actually match old Sussex brick. That local knowledge is not something you can get from a national contractor. 

 

Forest Row is where I grew up, and it's where I'm raising my own family now. For the past ten years, I've also served as an on-call firefighter at the local station, something that matters to me as a way of giving back to the community I've been part of all my life. It shapes the way I approach my work too: you show up, you do the job properly, and you don't cut corners when it counts. If you have a listed building, a period property, or an old structure that needs careful work, or even if you just have a wall that needs repointing and you want someone who will use the right mortar, give me a call. I will tell you honestly what the building needs, what it will cost, and how long it will take.

No salesmanship. Just straight answers and good work.