Regional Managers Archives - Hawkins Forensic Investigation https://www.hawkins.biz/management/regional-managers/ Specialising in Forensic Investigation Mon, 08 Dec 2025 15:24:15 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.hawkins.biz/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/favicon-1.png Regional Managers Archives - Hawkins Forensic Investigation https://www.hawkins.biz/management/regional-managers/ 32 32 Ian Major https://www.hawkins.biz/our-experts/ian-major-bristol-regional-manager/ Wed, 13 Aug 2025 07:39:20 +0000 https://www.hawkins.biz/?post_type=leadership&p=40969 Ian started his career working for Aspen Burrow Crocker on a variety of civil engineering projects. He was involved in the design of numerous highway and infrastructure schemes, waste transfer stations and the Thameslink rail project. He has also spent time supervising construction work on site including a year working at wastewater treatment plants. In 1999, Ian joined Hyder Consulting where he spent 11 years working predominantly on the design and project management of major infrastructure projects including the N5 in Ireland, the A2 widening in Kent and the A421 improvements in Bedfordshire. Ian joined Hawkins in 2010, specialising in the investigation of property damage and personal injuries involving civil engineering and building incidents. He is also an experienced fire investigator, having investigated over 200 fires including major and complex losses in domestic, commercial and industrial premises. In his specialist field of engineering, Ian has determined the causes of a wide range of losses from small domestic claims of water ingress through to catastrophic building collapses. Other examples of incidents that Ian has investigated include wall failures, subsidence, flooding and problems associated with ground-borne vibration. Much of this work has involved advising on matters in relation to the requirements of […]

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Ian started his career working for Aspen Burrow Crocker on a variety of civil engineering projects. He was involved in the design of numerous highway and infrastructure schemes, waste transfer stations and the Thameslink rail project. He has also spent time supervising construction work on site including a year working at wastewater treatment plants. In 1999, Ian joined Hyder Consulting where he spent 11 years working predominantly on the design and project management of major infrastructure projects including the N5 in Ireland, the A2 widening in Kent and the A421 improvements in Bedfordshire.

Ian joined Hawkins in 2010, specialising in the investigation of property damage and personal injuries involving civil engineering and building incidents. He is also an experienced fire investigator, having investigated over 200 fires including major and complex losses in domestic, commercial and industrial premises.

In his specialist field of engineering, Ian has determined the causes of a wide range of losses from small domestic claims of water ingress through to catastrophic building collapses. Other examples of incidents that Ian has investigated include wall failures, subsidence, flooding and problems associated with ground-borne vibration. Much of this work has involved advising on matters in relation to the requirements of Building Regulations and relevant design standards.

Ian is the Regional Manager of the Reigate office.

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]]> Jon Watkins https://www.hawkins.biz/our-experts/jon-watkins/ Fri, 02 Sep 2022 08:37:26 +0000 https://www.hawkins.biz/?post_type=leadership&p=8224 Jon graduated from Imperial College London in 2010 with a first class degree in Civil Engineering. Having previously worked in both Consulting Engineering with Atkins, as well as in Contracting with Sir Robert McAlpine, he has particular experience in assessment of existing structures for refurbishment projects. In addition to this, Jon has performed seismic surveys for residential buildings in high risk zones across the Middle-East. He was also seconded to Atkins Qatar as part of the Doha Metro project providing client support to a remote design team. Jon joined Hawkins in 2016 to strengthen our services in Civil & Structural Engineering investigations, but soon developed his skills to undertake fire, explosions and personal injury investigations. He has since investigated over 500 cases including fires, explosions, construction incidents, water ingress, foundation settlement and personal injuries. Jon has led investigations of a domestic, industrial and commercial nature, which have ranged in size from small losses to multi-million pound complex claims. Jon is experienced in the legal process in both Scotland and England & Wales, and the preparation of CPR Part 35 compliant reports. He has experience advising solicitors and Counsel on technical engineering issues and has given expert evidence in the All-Scotland […]

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Jon graduated from Imperial College London in 2010 with a first class degree in Civil Engineering. Having previously worked in both Consulting Engineering with Atkins, as well as in Contracting with Sir Robert McAlpine, he has particular experience in assessment of existing structures for refurbishment projects. In addition to this, Jon has performed seismic surveys for residential buildings in high risk zones across the Middle-East. He was also seconded to Atkins Qatar as part of the Doha Metro project providing client support to a remote design team.

Jon joined Hawkins in 2016 to strengthen our services in Civil & Structural Engineering investigations, but soon developed his skills to undertake fire, explosions and personal injury investigations. He has since investigated over 500 cases including fires, explosions, construction incidents, water ingress, foundation settlement and personal injuries. Jon has led investigations of a domestic, industrial and commercial nature, which have ranged in size from small losses to multi-million pound complex claims.

Jon is experienced in the legal process in both Scotland and England & Wales, and the preparation of CPR Part 35 compliant reports. He has experience advising solicitors and Counsel on technical engineering issues and has given expert evidence in the All-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court, a Fatal Accident Inquiry, and in the County Court of Northern Ireland.

Jon has developed his skill-set with Hawkins through attendance at training courses offered by OFTEC, in relation to Oil-fire boilers, HETAS, in relation to chimney and stove installations, City & Guilds Electrical installation, and TR/19 Ductwork Cleaning. He is also an A2 Certificate of Competence (A2CofC) certified drone pilot and can assist clients with aerial surveys on cases relating to fires, structural failures, and personal injuries. The use of drones in an investigation can be particularly beneficial to inspect dangerous or hard to reach areas. 

Jon is a Chartered Civil Engineer and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.  He is Regional Manager of our Glasgow and Belfast offices.

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]]> Mark Turner https://www.hawkins.biz/our-experts/mark-turner/ Thu, 01 Sep 2022 16:04:11 +0000 https://www.hawkins.biz/?post_type=leadership&p=8185 After completing his degree in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield, Mark worked as a Project Engineer at one of the UK’s leading engineering investigation companies. Specialising in non-destructive investigation techniques Mark worked within a wide range of civil engineering environments, which included carrying out detailed electromagnetic surveys of roads, railways and structures for most of the UK’s leading engineering consultancies and contractors. Mark then led a team of technicians specialising in the testing of deep pile foundations before working as a site engineer for a piling contractor involved mainly in limited access applications. Following his time working in construction, Mark decided investigation work was where his skills were best applied and he joined Hawkins in 2008 as a fire investigator. He has since investigated over 1000 fires, ranging from small domestic incidents to large multi-million pound losses. In 2011 Mark completed a Masters degree in Fire and Explosion Engineering at the University of Leeds and is now a Principal Associate and Regional Manager of our Cambridge office.

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After completing his degree in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield, Mark worked as a Project Engineer at one of the UK’s leading engineering investigation companies. Specialising in non-destructive investigation techniques Mark worked within a wide range of civil engineering environments, which included carrying out detailed electromagnetic surveys of roads, railways and structures for most of the UK’s leading engineering consultancies and contractors. Mark then led a team of technicians specialising in the testing of deep pile foundations before working as a site engineer for a piling contractor involved mainly in limited access applications.

Following his time working in construction, Mark decided investigation work was where his skills were best applied and he joined Hawkins in 2008 as a fire investigator. He has since investigated over 1000 fires, ranging from small domestic incidents to large multi-million pound losses. In 2011 Mark completed a Masters degree in Fire and Explosion Engineering at the University of Leeds and is now a Principal Associate and Regional Manager of our Cambridge office.

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]]> John Holland https://www.hawkins.biz/our-experts/john-holland-belfast-rm/ Wed, 31 Aug 2022 08:57:51 +0000 https://www.hawkins.biz/?post_type=leadership&p=7790 An Intel scholar, John graduated with a 1st Class Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering from University College Dublin, Ireland in 2000. As part of his degree he developed an automatic moisture sensor for use in the peat industry for which he was awarded the Hewlett Packard national award for innovation in engineering. After a brief period with Schlumberger Oilfield Services in Peru, John returned to Ireland to take up a position with Teradyne Connection Systems, before joining Timoney Technology as a mechanical design engineer, where he specialised in the design and development of Hydropneumatic Suspension Systems for specialty off road vehicles. In this role he also gained considerable experience with computer aided engineering techniques such as Finite Element Analysis and Vehicle Multi-body Dynamic Analysis. John was appointed engineering manager with Timoney Technology and took over full technical responsibility for all engineering projects and products. Projects of note include the DARPA Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle, the USMC Gladiator Tactical Unmanned Vehicle and the Timoney ADT Independent Suspension Axle System manufactured under licence by Terex Equipment Ltd. John was also involved with the Ginaf Rally Power and DeRooy race teams for the 2007 Dakar Rally and has numerous automotive suspension patents filed […]

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An Intel scholar, John graduated with a 1st Class Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering from University College Dublin, Ireland in 2000. As part of his degree he developed an automatic moisture sensor for use in the peat industry for which he was awarded the Hewlett Packard national award for innovation in engineering.

After a brief period with Schlumberger Oilfield Services in Peru, John returned to Ireland to take up a position with Teradyne Connection Systems, before joining Timoney Technology as a mechanical design engineer, where he specialised in the design and development of Hydropneumatic Suspension Systems for specialty off road vehicles. In this role he also gained considerable experience with computer aided engineering techniques such as Finite Element Analysis and Vehicle Multi-body Dynamic Analysis.

John was appointed engineering manager with Timoney Technology and took over full technical responsibility for all engineering projects and products. Projects of note include the DARPA Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle, the USMC Gladiator Tactical Unmanned Vehicle and the Timoney ADT Independent Suspension Axle System manufactured under licence by Terex Equipment Ltd.

John was also involved with the Ginaf Rally Power and DeRooy race teams for the 2007 Dakar Rally and has numerous automotive suspension patents filed in his name.

John specialises in the investigation of fires, explosions, escapes of fluid, engineering failures, personal injuries – particularly those involving plant and machinery, building damage resulting from water ingress, and road traffic accidents. His level of experience in the design of heavy-duty off-road vehicles gives him a unique insight into incidents involving HGVs.

John has a detailed knowledge of the health and safety regulatory framework in the UK and of how relevant regulations apply to the design, development, provision and use of plant and machinery in industry. Since joining Hawkins, he has investigated over 700 incidents, ranging from small domestic losses to major and complex incidents involving serious injuries and fatalities. He has produced expert reports for Pursuers and Defenders and has given expert evidence in the Court of Session and in the Sheriff Courts. He has also been appointed, via the National Crime Agency, to assist Police Scotland in criminal investigations and has prepared reports for criminal defence lawyers. He is known for his attention to detail, his pragmatic approach, and his ability to explain complex engineering matters in a way that is clear and easy for non-technical readers to understand.

John presents regularly on topics such as the forensic investigation of fires and escapes of water, as well as on health and safety related topics, at events organised by the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters, the Chartered Insurance Institute, insurance companies and law firms.

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]]> Jonathan Emm https://www.hawkins.biz/our-experts/jonathan-emm/ Tue, 30 Aug 2022 14:53:36 +0000 https://www.hawkins.biz/?post_type=leadership&p=7749 Jonathan’s engineering career began at Morganite Thermal Ceramics. Here he ran projects to develop a non-destructive testing technique for their foundry ceramic products, as well as a new product with very high thermal shock resistance. Jonathan joined BAE SYSTEMS in 2000 as an engineer in the Advanced Technology Centre, Stealth Materials Group. He ran development and application engineering projects there, mostly using elastomeric and composite materials as radar absorbent or transparent media. These were applied to military aircraft, ships and vehicles. This work enabled him to develop strong project management skills and in his last year he led a team of engineers and scientists in developing a sprayable, radar absorbent coating for aircrafts. In 2003 Jonathan joined Cytec Engineered Materials, where he ran qualification testing programmes for aerospace composite materials and provided technical advice and assistance to customers, particularly in relation to processing issues. His customers included Airbus, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, with whom he worked to incorporate advanced, recently developed materials into their aircraft structures. Jonathan joined Hawkins in January 2007, where he trained in the investigation of fires and explosions to add to his engineering expertise. Jonathan has now been involved with a broad range of forensic engineering […]

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Jonathan’s engineering career began at Morganite Thermal Ceramics. Here he ran projects to develop a non-destructive testing technique for their foundry ceramic products, as well as a new product with very high thermal shock resistance.

Jonathan joined BAE SYSTEMS in 2000 as an engineer in the Advanced Technology Centre, Stealth Materials Group. He ran development and application engineering projects there, mostly using elastomeric and composite materials as radar absorbent or transparent media. These were applied to military aircraft, ships and vehicles. This work enabled him to develop strong project management skills and in his last year he led a team of engineers and scientists in developing a sprayable, radar absorbent coating for aircrafts.

In 2003 Jonathan joined Cytec Engineered Materials, where he ran qualification testing programmes for aerospace composite materials and provided technical advice and assistance to customers, particularly in relation to processing issues. His customers included Airbus, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, with whom he worked to incorporate advanced, recently developed materials into their aircraft structures.

Jonathan joined Hawkins in January 2007, where he trained in the investigation of fires and explosions to add to his engineering expertise. Jonathan has now been involved with a broad range of forensic engineering investigations, including materials failures, escapes of water and other fluids, personal injury cases, property break-ins and component failures in machinery and appliances. He specialises in materials issues, particularly with composites and non-metals. He has investigated numerous fires and explosions in residential, commercial and industrial premises.

Jonathan has experience with the legal process and has been involved in producing statements and giving advice to the Police, loss adjusters, lawyers and the Fire Service. He has given expert witness evidence in Court.

Jonathan is a Principal Associate and the Regional Manager of our Manchester Office.

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]]> Ian Major https://www.hawkins.biz/our-experts/ian-major/ Fri, 13 May 2022 12:43:38 +0000 https://hawkins.salttest.co/?post_type=leadership&p=3211 Ian started his career working for Aspen Burrow Crocker on a variety of civil engineering projects. He was involved in the design of numerous highway and infrastructure schemes, waste transfer stations and the Thameslink rail project. He has also spent time supervising construction work on site including a year working at wastewater treatment plants. In 1999, Ian joined Hyder Consulting where he spent 11 years working predominantly on the design and project management of major infrastructure projects including the N5 in Ireland, the A2 widening in Kent and the A421 improvements in Bedfordshire. Ian joined Hawkins in 2010, specialising in the investigation of property damage and personal injuries involving civil engineering and building incidents. He is also an experienced fire investigator, having investigated over 200 fires including major and complex losses in domestic, commercial and industrial premises. In his specialist field of engineering, Ian has determined the causes of a wide range of losses from small domestic claims of water ingress through to catastrophic building collapses. Other examples of incidents that Ian has investigated include wall failures, subsidence, flooding and problems associated with ground-borne vibration. Much of this work has involved advising on matters in relation to the requirements of […]

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Ian started his career working for Aspen Burrow Crocker on a variety of civil engineering projects. He was involved in the design of numerous highway and infrastructure schemes, waste transfer stations and the Thameslink rail project. He has also spent time supervising construction work on site including a year working at wastewater treatment plants. In 1999, Ian joined Hyder Consulting where he spent 11 years working predominantly on the design and project management of major infrastructure projects including the N5 in Ireland, the A2 widening in Kent and the A421 improvements in Bedfordshire.

Ian joined Hawkins in 2010, specialising in the investigation of property damage and personal injuries involving civil engineering and building incidents. He is also an experienced fire investigator, having investigated over 200 fires including major and complex losses in domestic, commercial and industrial premises.

In his specialist field of engineering, Ian has determined the causes of a wide range of losses from small domestic claims of water ingress through to catastrophic building collapses. Other examples of incidents that Ian has investigated include wall failures, subsidence, flooding and problems associated with ground-borne vibration. Much of this work has involved advising on matters in relation to the requirements of Building Regulations and relevant design standards.

Ian is the Regional Manager of the Reigate office.

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]]> Paul Lemon https://www.hawkins.biz/our-experts/paul-lemon/ Fri, 13 May 2022 12:39:16 +0000 https://hawkins.salttest.co/?post_type=leadership&p=3209 Paul Lemon is a personal injury expert with Hawkins, specialising in the area of slips and trips.

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Paul is a full-time specialist in the niche area of slips, trips and stair fall incident investigation, and leads Hawkins’ work in this area. He is a sought-after Expert Witness in this field, regularly preparing reports and giving evidence in Court.

He was part of the small HSE team that developed HSE’s early understanding of the causes of pedestrian slips, trips and stair falls. Paul’s work at HSE’s Laboratories (HSL) involved leading and coordinating research in these subject areas, and led to him serving as HSE’s principal Expert Witness for cases involving pedestrian accidents, presenting evidence to Magistrates’ Courts, Crown Courts and at Coroner’s Inquests.

On becoming HSL’s Research Technical Leader for slips, trips and stair falls, Paul continued to lead HSL’s research into these subjects, including their input into a large pan-European research project and managing the two largest research projects into slips and falls ever undertaken by HSE. He maintained responsibility for the authorisation of HSL’s slip, trip and stair fall forensic reports and represented HSE on several British Standards Committees, taking part in the production of numerous HSE Guidance documents and National Standards (such as BS7976-2 and BS5395-1) concerning slips, trips and stair falls.

He has developed a substantial list of publications in this subject area, is a long-standing, active Member of the UK Slip Resistance Group (UKSRG) and was the Editor of Issue 5 of the UKSRG Guidelines. He is a Chartered Scientist, a Chartered Physicist and a Fellow of the Institute of Science & Technology.

Paul joined Hawkins in 2009, and is a Principal Associate and Regional Manager of our Leeds Office.

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]]> Gareth Dobinson https://www.hawkins.biz/our-experts/gareth-dobinson/ Fri, 13 May 2022 12:25:21 +0000 https://hawkins.salttest.co/?post_type=leadership&p=3205 Gareth started his career in engineering with an industrial placement during his third year at Loughborough University. The twelve months were spent working for Xerox as a Systems Engineer where he undertook a wide range of engineering work as well as developing a system to monitor paper control timings for a paper transport module. As part of his placement he spent five months working in Venray, Netherlands, integrating new products into the manufacturing line. On completion of his placement he received a bursary from Xerox for the final two years of his degree. His final year project was sponsored by Xerox and investigated “The environmental effects on glass reinforced plastic”. After completing his degree Gareth joined Xerox on their Graduate Engineering programme based in Welwyn Garden City. During his five years at Xerox, Gareth obtained a wealth of experiences in both the mechanical and software aspects of engineering. He started working in the Mechanical group where he was the lead engineer on a paper handling module. This was followed up by two long term assignments to Senai, Malaysia and Wilsonville, USA. During his third year at Xerox Gareth undertook a conversion course in Software Engineering. The skills learnt on this […]

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Gareth started his career in engineering with an industrial placement during his third year at Loughborough University. The twelve months were spent working for Xerox as a Systems Engineer where he undertook a wide range of engineering work as well as developing a system to monitor paper control timings for a paper transport module. As part of his placement he spent five months working in Venray, Netherlands, integrating new products into the manufacturing line. On completion of his placement he received a bursary from Xerox for the final two years of his degree. His final year project was sponsored by Xerox and investigated “The environmental effects on glass reinforced plastic”.

After completing his degree Gareth joined Xerox on their Graduate Engineering programme based in Welwyn Garden City. During his five years at Xerox, Gareth obtained a wealth of experiences in both the mechanical and software aspects of engineering. He started working in the Mechanical group where he was the lead engineer on a paper handling module.

This was followed up by two long term assignments to Senai, Malaysia and Wilsonville, USA. During his third year at Xerox Gareth undertook a conversion course in Software Engineering. The skills learnt on this course opened the door for Gareth to take on the role of Integration Engineer on a new Xerox product using prototype solid ink technology. During his last year at Xerox Gareth worked as a Project Engineer with responsibility for the implementation and integration of software and hardware for controllers of Xerox products manufactured in Southern Malaysia and Singapore. This role resulted in his second assignment to Senai, Malaysia.

During his time at Xerox Gareth gained Chartered status at the IMechE. He is also a Green Belt in Electro-mechanical and Software DfLSS and a qualified Scrum Master. In his last year at Xerox he was also awarded a place on Xerox’s Business Seminar Scheme.

Gareth joined Hawkins in 2011 and has since investigated fires in domestic and commercial premises as well as engineering failures.

Gareth is a Principal Associate and Regional Manager based in our London Office.

LANGUAGES

Gareth is also proficient in Spanish.

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]]> Jake Irwin https://www.hawkins.biz/our-experts/jake-irwin/ Tue, 10 May 2022 05:42:55 +0000 https://hawkins.salttest.co/?post_type=leadership&p=3100 After completing a PhD at the University of Sydney, Jake joined the National Measurement Institute of Australia producing certified analytical reference materials. He then took a Post Doctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Warwick, performing chemical synthesis and analysis for a wide variety of projects. In 2006 Jake joined the Forensic Science Service as a Researcher and then R&D Science Manager in the physical sciences. He led progress in the analytical sciences (in particular the toxicology & illicit drug testing fields) and drove the development and implementation of quality assurance standards at a European level. Jake also worked on many collaborative projects with universities and other research organisations. Since joining Hawkins in 2012 as a fire investigator, Jake has investigated many fire scenes from small domestic losses to large commercial losses. More recently Jake has also investigated chemical, post-fire and post-flood contamination events. Jake is currently a Principal Associate and Regional Manager of our Birmingham office.

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After completing a PhD at the University of Sydney, Jake joined the National Measurement Institute of Australia producing certified analytical reference materials. He then took a Post Doctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Warwick, performing chemical synthesis and analysis for a wide variety of projects.

In 2006 Jake joined the Forensic Science Service as a Researcher and then R&D Science Manager in the physical sciences. He led progress in the analytical sciences (in particular the toxicology & illicit drug testing fields) and drove the development and implementation of quality assurance standards at a European level. Jake also worked on many collaborative projects with universities and other research organisations. Since joining Hawkins in 2012 as a fire investigator, Jake has investigated many fire scenes from small domestic losses to large commercial losses. More recently Jake has also investigated chemical, post-fire and post-flood contamination events.

Jake is currently a Principal Associate and Regional Manager of our Birmingham office.

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