Born in Aylesbury, Bucks, Neil was educated at Nottingham University (where he gained a BSc in Geology), and Surrey University (where he later gained an MSc in Geotechnical Engineering).
Neil initially joined Kent County Council as a Geotechnical Engineer in 1980 and then joined Atkins plc in 1989. Whilst employed by Atkins he developed a 280 strong team of engineers and environmental scientists working on the remediation of contaminated land, waste management, mining remediation works and the resolution of ground and environmental-based problems for a wide variety of infrastructure projects.
He is a Chartered Civil Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He was also a part-time lecturer on the MSc course in Foundation Engineering at Birmingham University.
Neil currently works part time for Rodgers Leask Consulting Engineers, working on senior reviews of commercial and residential projects.
He is married to Biddy and they have a son (Simon) and a daughter (Kate). Neil has a keen interest in modern history and he is a member of the Ramblers walking group. He is also a PADI Advanced Scuba Diver and has completed over a 100 dives around the world.
