Our Team

Ian’s career has followed a unique course.  Having originally trained as a design and contracts engineer with leading London-based mechanical and electrical contractor Young Austen & Young, Ian then enjoyed several years with specialist commissioning companies both hands on and technical management prior to establishing a firm of consultants in 1989. This practical experience has since been put to good use in the design and commissioning of a variety of Building Services solutions across a broad range of building sectors.

He has a 1st Class Honours Degree in Building Services Engineering, is a Chartered Engineer, CIBSE Low Carbon Consultant, and Corporate Member of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers.

In more recent years he has helped focus the company on the  design and build projects, bringing practical experience to the development of client consultants’ concept designs to a full design with an eye for cost and installation quality.

Ian’s experience from design & build contractor through to commissioning & design consultancy is unique within the industry, particularly when applied to the project sectors above, and results in a practical engineering approach to all aspects of his work and has been one of the main characteristics requested by the current client base.

Michael is a Chartered Engineer and has over 35 year’s continuous experience working within the building services industry. He has a First Class Honours Degree in Engineering and has been involved with the CIBSE regional committee’s holding the positions of Treasurer, Chairman and Members Champion.  He is also a CIBSE bronze medal holder, awarded for services to the institution. Michael is passionate about all aspects of engineering, modern and historic.

He spent his first 10 years working with the world-respected design and build contractor, Haden Young, before joining the newly formed family business, Venables Associates.

Since the formation of Venables Associates Michael has operated as one of the principals of the company responsible for the preparation of project briefs, concept design, full design duties, tender and contract documentation, management of projects, specialist commissioning, surveys, investigations, litigation investigation and general professional advice.

In more recent years he has focused the company on mission-critical services in all forms, automotive projects in Formula 1 and mainstream production and has developed the company’s growth into these sectors, somewhere they already held a solid presence.

Michael’s experience from design & build contractor through to commissioning & design consultancy is unique within the industry, particularly when applied to the project sectors and results in a practical engineering approach to all aspects of his work and is one of the main characteristics requested by the current client base.

Stuart specialises in Mechanical Design whilst overseeing client liaison and the general management of the company’s activities.

Whilst continuing his role as Senior Design Engineer, Stuart is now part of the team of Directors and has a broader set of duties and responsibilities within the company collaborating with other directors to drive the overall success of Venables Associates Employee Owned Trust.

Stuart joined Venables Associates at 18 as a Design and Commissioning apprentice. Engineering has always been of keen interest to Stuart and from an early age, Stuart knew he would follow his father into the Building Services industry. Over the years Stuart has progressed through the company with his most recent roles being that of a Senior Associate Engineer and finally his current position of Operations Director.

Stuart began his training by completing his day release Building Services HNC at Newham College. His unique training under the stewardship of Ian and Mike Venables was varied and not only included all aspects of Mechanical and Public Heath design, but also included Commissioning, Commissioning Management, Problem Analysis,  Validation Surveys and extensive use of building modelling software for building performance. This has given Stuart the skills to have a practical engineering approach to all aspects of his work and is passionate about finding solutions to meet briefs and deliver low-carbon buildings for exceptional value.

Stuart’s 25 years of experience has given him in depth knowledge of most industry sectors and in recent years he has predominantly focussed on Data Centres, Commercial offices, Sports and Leisure and our Residential sectors.

Sean specialises in client liaison and has been the Electrical principal engineer overseeing the design concept solutions right through to the final commissioning phase.

Sean is now part of the team of Directors and has a broader set of duties and responsibilities within the company collaborating with other directors to drive the overall success of Venables Associates Employee Owned Trust.

Sean has been working in Electrical Engineering for over 31years continuous within the Building Services Industry. Sean’s formal education included 5 years at City of Westminster College obtaining ONC/HNC in building services engineering. The beginning of his professional career was with Zisman Bowyer’s where he spent 10 years working on large scale healthcare projects throughout the UK.

Sean has extensive experience working in the building service industry in many sectors such as retail, health care and commercial offices and has spent the last 15 years working predominantly on Mission Critical Services across Europe. Sean has experience in design and build contracts also in commissioning management and is involved in all aspects from the initial design concept all the way through to the final commissioning stage of the projects.

Sean has excellent communication and people skills, his major strength is managing clients’ expectations. Sean is very practically minded and an excellent problem solver with his leadership qualities and people skills he ensures his team is motivated to deliver projects on time and to clients’ expectations.  

Sean is very passionate about ensuring the quality and excellence of the work that Venables Associates are involved in. Sean ensures projects are completed to a very high standard thus ensuring Venables Associates are recognised as the leaders in Mission Critical Services procurement.

Rod is one of our Directors at Venables Associates and manages the department responsible for creating and maintaining CAD drawings and Revit models.​ In addition to the CAD & Revit responsibilities, as a Director, Rod has a broader set of duties and responsibilities within the company collaborating with other directors to drive the overall success of Venables Associates Employee Owned Trust.

Rod joined Venables Associates in 1994 as the company’s first AutoCAD Technician. During his 30 years in the building services industry, Rod has gained valuable experience working on hundreds of projects at Venables Associates as CAD & Revit Manager. Over the years Rod has also achieved a Building Services NC at Newham College where he was awarded student of the year in 2005, an HNC in Computer Aided Drafting and Design (2D & 3D) grade ‘A’ at Motherwell College & completed various AEC software courses. In 2014 Rod was key to the business’s successful progression from 2D CAD to 3D Building Information Modelling. 

Paul has been the electrical principal engineer overseeing the design concept solutions with client liaison right through to the final commissioning phase.

​Whilst continuing his role as the Principal Electrical Design Engineer, Paul is now part of the team of Directors and has a broader set of duties and responsibilities within the company collaborating with other directors to drive the overall success of Venables Associates Employee Owned Trust.

Paul has been working in Electrical Engineering for over twenty-eight years. Beginning his professional career as a JIB approved commercial electrician, Paul continued his academic studies part-time for nine years in total whilst continuing his career arc from electrical installation, testing and commissioning management until 2005 when he joined his first building services consulting engineering company, Hulley and Kirkwood, as a design engineer working mostly on Airports, Commercial and Hospital projects.

Paul joined Venables Associates in 2007, where he became the senior lead electrical engineer notably for the extensive Data centre projects and the Cambridge science park projects.

It was at Venables Associates where Paul completed his IET accredited BENG degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering with first-class honours.

Paul has unique practical and theoretical experiences with qualifications at every level rarely seen on design teams for engineering projects. This experience has provided the insight required for developing the engineering solutions from the early concept phases right through to the final integrated systems testing phase of the commissioning of complex, mission-critical installations