Construction & Architectural History

Ron Gatepain has been involved with education and training for over 20 years. He has a pleasant personality and good sense of humour and is able to mix and get on with people of all ages and backgrounds. For more than 25 years he was Managing Director of a Property Development Company specialising in the purchase, renovation/development and resale of property. In addition he has held a number of directorships in companies working in the retail, services and the entertainment sectors.

Having served in the Royal Marines Ron went on to become a Lieutenant Colonel with the Territorial Army where, apart from being the Commanding Officer of a Pioneer Regiment, he lectured on officer promotion and management courses covering such subjects as Leadership, Motivation, Team Building, Personal Presentation and Getting the best from People. He was also involved with the planning and assessment of training for officers and other ranks in military and trade training.

For over 12 years Ron was a visiting lecturer at The Nottingham Trent University where he lectured in Construction Technology, Management and Economics and at Loughborough University where he ran their Project Evaluation and Development module. He was involved with the establishment of a distance learning programme for the British Army's Royal Logistic Corps and wrote a number of distance learning modules for them and for The Nottingham Trent University, also acting as a tutor for distance learning and online courses. He has written and published two books, Successful Property Development and Management for the Professions, as well as numerous magazine articles and is the Technical Expert Author Advisor to the e-learning repository for the East Midlands Higher Education Institutions.

After retiring from business Ron lectured at Lincoln College in Building and Civil Engineering Studies and was responsible for the development of new programmes and courses for their School of Construction before leaving to take up the position of Director for Gates MacBain Associates Ltd , a Construction Education and Training Company. He is involved in the assessment of NVQ qualifications and is a visiting lecturer in Heritage Studies at Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln.

A member of the Society of Architectural Historians Ron has travelled extensively in pursuit of his interest in history particularly with regard to buildings, their construction and the influence they have had on civilisation: A subject which he gives talks on as a guest speaker for special interest groups and cruise ships throughout the world.