Following a career in surveying spanning over 20 years, being elected President of the Association of Chief Estates Surveyors in Local Government (ACES), is the icing on the cake for Betty Albon, Corporate Property Officer at St Edmundsbury.
ACES represents over 300 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales. The organisation aims to keep members in touch with best practice and ensures there is a balanced professional input into new policy. This helps Betty and her colleagues to protect the property interests of local authorities, including things like asset management, valuation, commercial management and sale of surplus land and buildings.
Betty has been a member of the association since the mid 1990s. In her new role Betty will be representing ACES through regular meetings with the government, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and other public sector and professional groups. She will also be organising her National Presidential Conference in September 2006, being held at the Angel Hotel in Bury St Edmunds and should attract up to 100 delegates.
All in a days work for someone who has spent many years specialising in the field of local government property management. Betty’s path to ACES Presidency has been something she has worked hard for and all started in 1979 when she joined St Edmundsbury as Assistant Planning Officer, having successfully achieved a Masters in Civic Design from the University of Liverpool.
Having her sights on higher things, Betty quickly progressed through the ranks to become Estates Assistant then retrained as a Chartered Surveyor. Even in the early 1990s, women were few and far between in the field of surveying; Betty is one of only 420 female Fellows of RICS out of a global membership of around 75,000.
Betty believes her ACES achievement is a reflection of the opportunities for career development and continuous learning at the council:
“When I first started at St Edmundsbury, I was only thinking about staying for two years but somehow ended up developing my career here without having to move on. I couldn’t have done this without the encouragement that I received from the council and those that I have worked with. I am very proud to be President of ACES and grateful for the support that St Edmundsbury is giving me.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
· For more information about ACES go to www.aces.org.uk.
· Photograph of Betty Albon being elected President of ACES is available on request
ISSUED BY MARIA STAFF, COMMUNICATIONS UNIT, ST EDMUNDSBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Tel 01284 757033. maria.staff@stedsbc.gov.uk
