Fire Safety and Evacuation Seminar 2026
Please note, this is a free event, however there is a real cost involved in catering.
If you are unable to attend, after you have registered, please make us aware if you are no longer able to attend, before the event, on the below e-mail.
rianna.chambers@goldenthreadfiredelay.com
Date: Thursday 14th May 2026
Registration: 08:30
Seminar: 09:00-16:00
Location:
Kings College London
Strand Campus, WC2R 2LS
All enquiries to:
Our Fire Safety and Evacuation Seminar 2026 Agenda – Download PDF Here >>
Barry Beavis:
Barry Beavis is the Sales and Marketing Manager for Golden Thread Fire Delay. He has 10 years’ experience in passive fire protection and is a former member of ASFP Council and Chair of the Constructors task group. Whilst serving on Council, Barry represented the ASFP and collaborated with DLUHC and Professor David Mosey CBE on the publication of “Guidance on Procurement for Design and Construction to Support Building Safety” as announced by the then Secretary of State, Michael Gove.
Professor Jose Torero
Professor José L. Torero is Professor Civil Engineering and Head of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at University College London. He works in the fields of fire safety, combustion, environmental remediation and sanitation where he specializes in complex environments such as developing nations, complex urban environments, novel architectures, critical infrastructure, aircraft and spacecraft. He holds a BSc for the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (1989), and an MSc (1991) and PhD (1992) from the University of California, Berkeley. He received a Doctor Honoris Causaby Ghent University (Belgium) in 2016. José is a Chartered Engineer (UK), a Registered Professional Engineer in Queensland, a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (UK), the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences (Australia), the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK), the Institution of Fire Engineers (UK), the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (USA), the Combustion Institute (USA) and the Royal Society of New South Wales (Australia).
José joined UCL following appointments as Professor of Civil Engineering and Head of the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Queensland, Australia, the Landolt & Cia Chair in Innovation for a Sustainable Future at Ecole Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne, BRE Trust/RAEng Professor of Fire Safety Engineering at The University of Edinburgh, Associate Professor at the University of Maryland and Charge de Recherche at the French National Centre for Scientific Research. He has been involved in landmark designs such as the tallest timber office building in the world, the Space Shuttle hangars in Cape Canaveral or the 2011 temple for “Burning Man.” He has been part of the World Trade Center collapse investigation, the Organization of American States Human Rights investigation of Ayotzinapa, Mexico, the Chilean investigation of the San Miguel prison fire and currently, he is serving in the Grenfell Public Inquiry. His work on the reformulation of engineering education led to six influential think tanks supported by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation and the Ove Arup Foundation.
Alastair Soane:
Alastair is a founding member of CROSS and responsible for setting up CROSS-UK and for introducing CROSS in Australasia, and the USA.
Previously the CEO of a consulting firm he has extensive experience of major building and structural projects in the UK and internationally. He has specialised in the safety of structures and has worked on this with colleagues from around the world.
He has awards from ICE and IStructE, and The American Society of Civil Engineers presented him with their Forensic Engineering Award for 2021. In the same year he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers. Author of numerous publications, for many years he was visiting professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Liverpool and is a Past President of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers.
Peter Wilkinson:
Dr Peter Wilkinson is a Chartered Engineer, a Chartered Scientist and a Registered Fire Risk Assessor. Since 2012 he has been leading the independent safety, fire and risk engineering practice he founded. He is a Trustee Director of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE), the international organization for fire professionals, helping to promote the profession and register professional engineers with the Engineering Council, and is a Past International President. Additionally, Peter is one of the Designated People at CROSS, managing the confidential safety reports that CROSS-UK receives. He chairs the British Standards Technical Committee FSH/24, developing and codifying fire safety engineering practices, and represents the UK on European standards committees. Peter is also a Visiting Professor at the School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering at Loughborough University, helping to inject fire safety know how into architecture and built-environment student curricula.
Moe Elmasry:
Graham Gray:
Details coming soon.
Gary Watts:
Gary’s is a subject matter expert in the built environment (BSA). He also has an interest in IT working within Microsoft 365 Power Platform (PowerApps, SharePoint, PowerAutomate etc.). This supports digitisation and ownership of Golden Thread information by Clients within their own Microsoft environment.
John Carpenter
(past Fellow of IStructE and IOSH)
John has specialised in safety risk management for many years and was the Secretary of the Standing Committee on Structural Safety (SCOSS), the instigator of the original CROSS, and the founding Secretary of the Temporary Works Forum (TWf). He is an ICE Gold Medal recipient and the author of ‘Designing a safer built environment’. He has published a series of advice notes on the Building Safety Act and its applicability to other structures; he has spoken widely on the Grenfell implications: to students and practitioners.
Sofie Hooper:
Sofie Hooper joined the Association for Project Safety (APS) in May 2025 to advance its position as a leading professional body providing a centre of competence and excellence for the broader built environment community on all things Building Safety and Health and Safety risk management.
Sofie focuses on policy, strategy, and stakeholder engagement, working closely with industry bodies, political stakeholders, and partners to embed best practices in policy development. Sofie currently chairs the Industry Organisational Capability Task and Finish Group, working closely with the ICC. Previously Head of Policy and Research at IWFM, she led its wider policy and public affairs work, research agenda and technical publications. Following the Grenfell tragedy, she developed the Institute’s Building Safety strategy, co-authored the key industry report Safer people, safer homes: Building Safety Management and provided regular liaison with the Building Safety Regulator, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and other key policy units.
Sofie is also a founder Director of the Building Safety Alliance, a cross-sector collaboration improving holistic building safety competence across the occupation phase, co-founded by APS.
Sean Hanlon:
Founder & Director at SPHstructures (now StruKtures) a mixed discipline Structural Engineering design consultancy. Sean’s work with existing building stock led to an approach from the Institution of Structural Engineers to contribute guidance on the industry’s approach on their 2023 Structural Robustness and Disproportionate Collapse Manual. His work here has fed into Higher-Risk Building Assessments with his overall work commitment being recognised by the Institution of Civil Engineers with the award of Fellowship early in 2024.
Professor Timothy Broyd
Tim recently moved to UCL following a career in industry, and has substantial experience as corporate director of technology, innovation and sustainability for globally operating engineering design consultancies, including both Atkins and Halcrow. In addition he was CEO of construction industry research body CIRIA from 2002 to 2007. Within his new role he works with leading individuals in industry and government to understand and prepare for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. This recently included the responsibility for a ‘foresight’ input to the UK Government’s developing strategy for construction as well as leading the strategic planning of the UK’s development and implementation of BIM.
Tim is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Royal Society for Arts, manufactures and Commerce. He is also a Visiting Professor in Construction Management at the University of Reading and in Civil Engineering at the University of Dundee. He has maintained an active engagement in the development and deployment of BIM techniques for over a decade, is Vice Chairman of BuildingSmart (UK) Ltd and sits on the UK Government’s BIM Task Force. He is also a Director of CEEQUAL Limited, which is responsible for developing and marketing CEEQUAL, the world’s leading technique for assessing the sustainability of infrastructure projects. He became Vice President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 2011, with particular responsibility for Public Voice and Policy. He is now President for 2016/7.
Dame Judith Hackitt:
She is a former President of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and a Fellow and Trustee of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Throughout her career she has championed the importance of Engineering in delivering solutions which provide benefit to society and has been a role model particularly for young women wanting to enter the profession.
She cares deeply about safety in the workplace and more broadly. From 2007 to 2016 she was Chair of the UK’s Health and Safety Executive and in 2017 conducted an Independent Review for UK Government into Building Regulations and Fire Safety in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster. Since publishing her final report in 2018 she has continued to press for regulatory change and for industry culture change and her recommendations for radical reform of the regulatory system received Royal Assent in the Building Safety Act 2022. The change has been described as the biggest shake up in Construction regulation in a generation.
Her non-Exec roles have included being on the Board of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, Chair of Enginuity (the Engineering and Manufacturing Skills body) and a Board member at HS2).
She has received 10 Honorary Doctorates from Universities in the UK and in Australia. She received the Hanson medal from the Institution of Chemical Engineers in 2022 for her work on Ethics in Engineering and the President’s medal from the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2024 for her outstanding contribution to the Academy and for her contributions to Engineering. She is currently Chair of the RAE’s Membership Committee and also of the Engineering X Safer Complex Systems programme
Sandra Ashcroft:
Sandra is a career civil servant who has enjoyed an extensive career in the public sector. Early in her career, she set up youth and adult training programmes, supported small businesses to develop competent workforces, and introduced vocational qualifications into further education. She joined HSE in1994, with focus on HR policy, organisational design, and culture change. She went on to lead on-shore major hazards policy, and played a key role in developing the Seveso III Directive.
She has extensive international experience. Sandra worked with the UN on industrial accident prevention which included 4 years as Chair of a working group. She also developed HSE’s global commercial offerings for major hazard policies which saw her working with other administrations worldwide.
Sandra more recently advised on the new building safety regime and implementing the Building Safety Act. This included creating a regulated Building Control Profession and the Industry Competence Committee. Currently, her focus is on enhancing competence and culture across the built environment industries and as Vice-Chair of the Industry Competence Committee.
Ruth Haynes:
George Stevenson:
George leads the “Golden Thread Taskforce” to reduce the risks of delays/rejections at Gateways and Handover by creating Digital Records for both new-builds and existing portfolios. Working with building owners and construction companies to reduce financial, statutory and operation risk by means of more reliable and constantly updated information.
George is Currently:
- Chair of BIM4Housing and the Golden Thread Initiative Asset & Survey Group
- Chair of The Golden Thread Task Force and BIM in Asset Management
- Managing Director of Activeplan
- Visiting Lecturer of Middlesex University MSC BIM programme
Mark Snelling:
Mark Snelling MCIOB, CertIOSH, FAPS, started in construction, setting up his own construction health and safety consultancy in 1985. He is President of the Association for Project Safety, a founder director of the Building Safety Alliance and the health, safety and fire consultant to the Property Institute. Since 2021 he has worked in building safety providing guidance, consultancy and training to professional bodies and others. He was a member of the BS8670, PAS 8671, PAS 8763, and BS 8674 steering committees. He is a member of the new industry organisational capability standard steering group and the MHCLG’s Fire Safety Reform Implementation Group.
Anthony Taylor:
Member Industry Competence Committee (ICC), Chair Building Safety Alliance, past Chair of CSG Working Group 8, Industry Lead for PAS 8673, and member Steering Group for PAS 8671 and PAS 8672. Member of BSI Committee for Standards in Built Environment CBP/1, Member BSR’s Competence Leadership Forum, Member of the Life Safety Working Group for The Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) and the H&S Committees for The Property Institute (TPI), and Association for Project Safety (APS), Member Working Group 11 ICSG.
Past Chair of Greenwich University’s Built Environment Industry Liaison Group. Anthony has worked in both the public and private sector within the built environment, and has had a career which includes working in insurance and as a risk manager for a global tour operator. Anthony has long promoted the concept of integrated management systems, including GRC, sustainability, energy conservation, and BCM, HS&E, governance and ‘compliance’, with operational risk and liability management remaining ‘in the field’ with support from a panel of experts at centre.
Effective risk management requires the ability to quantify the exposure – to manage we need to measure, and organisations need to employ metrics that are accepted and understood by those in operational control of the business.
Margaret Sackey:
Margaret is a Chartered Civil Engineer on the ICE Health and Safety Expert Panel and ICE H&S Register (Advanced). A Chartered Safety Practitioner, CMIOSH, and an Honorary Fellow of Association for Project Safety.
Margaret has over 35 Years of experience in building environment, civil engineering, construction, design, project management, and the provision of construction health and safety management and assistance in both the public and private sector.