John has worked within the planning profession for over 50 years - serving initially in the public sector in London, and subsequently in the private and voluntary sectors in a variety of roles. John worked for 10 years for the Home Builders Federation and a further 10 years with Redrow Homes. He then moved to Catesby Property Group, later working as a Director for private sector consultants, Turley in Birmingham. In 2016 he set up his own planning consultancy, Acres Land & Planning Ltd which he still runs, although he is now semi-retired. He served for around 25 years in the RTPI West Midlands Region, both as Branch Chair (twice) and later writing as editor of the Branch RTPI magazine ‘Tripwire’ for over 15 years. In 2016 he was elected as Vice President of the RTPI and served as RTPI National President in 2018. John is currently Chairman of the RTPI Trust.