ian-simpson.net

Ian was educated at the Liverpool Blue Coat School and then at the University of Bradford from where he graduated in Business Studies in 1992. His early career was in Accountancy but in 2000 he changed direction and, following two years working in Portugal, refocussed his career on the care, maintenance and repair of buildings. More recently he has specialised in all aspects of the care of historic churches. Ian gained an MBA with Distinction in Facilities Management from Sheffield Hallam University in 2012. He is a Certified Member of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM - formerly the British Institute of Facilities Management) and is currently working up an application for Full Membership of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation.

Between June 2013 and June 2019 Ian served as the Diocese of Liverpool's Heritage Officer, a position in which he helped many of the Diocese's churches secure grant funding totalling around £6 million for major repair projects. He ran several successful Church Maintenance Training Days and advised churches on everything from welcoming visitors and tourists to eradicating dry rot and Japanese knotweed. On July 1st, 2019, following his position being made redundant by the Diocese of Liverpool, Ian took up a similar post with Church of England Birmingham. Ian also runs his own heritage consultancy undertaking commissions for churches, listed public buildings and private houses in North-West England, the Midlands and London.

In June 2015 Ian was appointed a Trustee of the Churches Visitor and Tourism Association (CVTA), in June 2018 he became its Vice Chairman and, from early 2022, its Co-Chairman alongside Canon John Brown. Ian has been a member of Future for Religious Heritage (FRH) since 2015.

Ian lives in Stourbridge, having moved there from Birmingham in July 2021. He has a wide range of interests and activities outside work: as well as his long-standing interest in railways and urban transport systems, he has a passion for theatre and performance art in general and has written a number of reviews for the Number 9 Reviews website. Ian is a member of the Choir at St. Mary's Church, Oldswinford (Stourbridge) and also edits the church's bi-monthly Magazine.